Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in newspaper interviews published yesterday that he will not resign despite corruption allegations and the possibility that he might be indicted in coming weeks.
"I am not about to resign. I emphasize, I am not about to resign. I am busy with work from morning to night, and I do not intend to make time for issues that are under investigation," the Yediot Ahronot daily quoted Sharon as saying in a telephone interview.
Justice Ministry officials said Wednesday they would decide in the coming weeks or months whether to indict the prime minister for allegedly accepting bribes of nearly US$700,000 after a real-estate developer was charged with giving him the money.
Sharon said the burgeoning scandal would not deflect his attention from what he considers to be more pressing issues.
"There are many issues that I am dealing with," Sharon told Yediot, referring to, among other things, an upcoming hearing at the world court in The Hague, the Netherlands, on the legality of the separation barrier Israel is building in the West Bank.
An Israeli court on Wednesday indicted real-estate developer David Appel for allegedly paying US$690,000 in bribes to Sharon. The indictment raises the chances that Sharon will be indicted as well.
A Dahaf Institute poll published in Yediot yesterday found that 49 percent of Israelis think the prime minister should resign or suspend himself now; 38 percent said he should continue his job. Pollsters questioned 504 people. The margin of error was 4.4 percentage points.
The focus of the scandal is widely known as the "Greek Island Affair" -- in which Sharon's son Gilad allegedly received large sums from Appel, an activist in Sharon's Likud Party who was trying to promote a massive tourism project in Greece in 1999. Sharon was then foreign minister.
Opposition politicians urged Sharon to resign now, and a leadership struggle in the ruling Likud Party already was brewing.
Sharon's spokesman, Assaf Shariv, said Sharon could not comment on the case because of the pending investigation.
"I can guarantee there will not be an indictment," he said.
While there is precedent to Israeli politicians resigning as a result of scandal, there have also been cases where despite suspicion, no indictments were handed down, and leaders, despite public criticism, have held on.
A former general, Sharon is considered likely to fight a fierce battle to maintain his leadership.
"He will fight until the last bullet," Israel Radio political analyst Hanan Crystal said. "But Richard Nixon was a fighter. You cannot fight against everything."
In order for Sharon to be charged, prosecutors must be convinced that a bribe was accepted with criminal intent. Justice Ministry officials, speaking on condition of anonymity, said they expected to complete an investigation within several months, possibly sooner, and decide on an indictment.
Appel was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court for allegedly giving Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote the Greek Island project, and also to help rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during Sharon's term as prime minister.
Sharon was allegedly asked to use his influence to push forward both projects, although neither came to fruition.
During 1998-1999, the indictment said, Appel "gave Ariel Sharon a bribe in recognition of activities connected to the fulfillment of his public positions."
It said Appel sent a total of US$690,000 to Sharon's family ranch in the Negev desert. Appel also promised his support to Sharon in party primary elections, the indictment said.
The indictment also charged Appel with giving a bribe to Vice Premier Ehud Olmert to promote the Greek project, when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem in the late 1990s.
The indictment said Gilad Sharon, while hired as a consultant in the Greek project, served as a middleman in accepting the bribes.
"[Appel] and Gilad agreed to this arrangement despite the fact that the defendant knew that Gilad had no relevant professional qualifications," it said.
Appel's lawyer, Moshe Israel, denied the charges.
"There is no doubt he is innocent," he said.
Still, the indictment further complicated Sharon's legal problems. He is also being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal campaign financing.
RESPONSE: The transit sends a message that China’s alignment with other countries would not deter the West from defending freedom of navigation, an academic said Canadian frigate the Ville de Quebec and Australian guided-missile destroyer the Brisbane transited the Taiwan Strait yesterday morning, the first time the two nations have conducted a joint freedom of navigation operation. The Canadian and Australian militaries did not immediately respond to requests for comment. The Ministry of National Defense declined to confirm the passage, saying only that Taiwan’s armed forces had deployed surveillance and reconnaissance assets, along with warships and combat aircraft, to safeguard security across the Strait. The two vessels were observed transiting northward along the eastern side of the Taiwan Strait’s median line, with Japan being their most likely destination,
GLOBAL ISSUE: If China annexes Taiwan, ‘it will not stop its expansion there, as it only becomes stronger and has more force to expand further,’ the president said China’s military and diplomatic expansion is not a sole issue for Taiwan, but one that risks world peace, President William Lai (賴清德) said yesterday, adding that Taiwan would stand with the alliance of democratic countries to preserve peace through deterrence. Lai made the remark in an exclusive interview with the Chinese-language Liberty Times (sister paper of the Taipei Times). “China is strategically pushing forward to change the international order,” Lai said, adding that China established the Asia Infrastructure Investment Bank, launched the Belt and Road Initiative, and pushed for yuan internationalization, because it wants to replace the democratic rules-based international
ECONOMIC BOOST: Should the more than 23 million people eligible for the NT$10,000 handouts spend them the same way as in 2023, GDP could rise 0.5 percent, an official said Universal cash handouts of NT$10,000 (US$330) are to be disbursed late next month at the earliest — including to permanent residents and foreign residents married to Taiwanese — pending legislative approval, the Ministry of Finance said yesterday. The Executive Yuan yesterday approved the Special Act for Strengthening Economic, Social and National Security Resilience in Response to International Circumstances (因應國際情勢強化經濟社會及民生國安韌性特別條例). The NT$550 billion special budget includes NT$236 billion for the cash handouts, plus an additional NT$20 billion set aside as reserve funds, expected to be used to support industries. Handouts might begin one month after the bill is promulgated and would be completed within
The National Development Council (NDC) yesterday unveiled details of new regulations that ease restrictions on foreigners working or living in Taiwan, as part of a bid to attract skilled workers from abroad. The regulations, which could go into effect in the first quarter of next year, stem from amendments to the Act for the Recruitment and Employment of Foreign Professionals (外國專業人才延攬及僱用法) passed by lawmakers on Aug. 29. Students categorized as “overseas compatriots” would be allowed to stay and work in Taiwan in the two years after their graduation without obtaining additional permits, doing away with the evaluation process that is currently required,
RSS