Orbiting Dicta

 

Within a week of taking up his cabinet position as Foreign Minister, Avigdor Lieberman was twice interrogated by Israeli police regarding allegations of bribery, money laundering, and corruption.  He’s in good company with Ehud Olmert still dodging accusations of malfeasance and former president Moshe Katsav indicted of rape during his term as tourism minister and sexual harassment and obstruction of justice while in office of president.  The sleaze at the top of the Israeli heap may not be unparalleled in the world of crooked politics, but it suggests that the rot goes much deeper.

Years ago when in Baghdad I found grimly amusing the nickname given the pitiless attacks on that city by American missiles in 1998 – the Lewinsky Bombing (which followed attacks on Afghanistan and Sudan four months earlier, as the threats of impeachment began their crescendo).  Attacks on a real or alleged enemy provide an effective smoke screen for public or even private wrongdoing.  The steady pillorying of Gaza and the Palestinians of the West Bank has served both the Olmert and Netanyahu administrations admirably well in that regard.  In the meantime, the death toll continues to rise in Gaza.  Of the seven Palestinians killed by ordinance left over from the January blitzkrieg, six were small children playing outdoors.

Why, one wonders, are they allowed to play in areas where there is likely to be unexploded weapons?  Simply because they have nowhere to play.