A kiss is just a kiss...
It's unfortunate for former Justice Minister Haim Ramon that he thought "a kiss is just a kiss." At a Purim party last year he flirted with a young 18 year old soldier, or depending on who you ask, she flirted with him. She asked to be photgraphed with him, and when she returned with her camera, they embraced, and kissed. But afterwards she complained that he French-kissed her, he forced his tongue into her mouth. She made a formal complaint, and the complaint became a lawsuit. Ramon was forced to resign, and last week he was found guilty of sexual abuse. His promising career as a leading Israeli politician has been ruined - by one kiss.
Some might think it appropriate, that the law applies equally to all, and that any sexual abuse cannot be tolerated. But, at the most this was an apparently mutually agreeable kiss in a public place. The girl never maintained that she didn't want to be friendly towards him, in fact the photo shows her laughing while she puts her arms around him. And after "the kiss" she did nothing demonstrative, such as slap him or verbalize her disgust.
However, other aspects of the case played a role in determining the guilty verdict. There was apparently an attempt by several female employees of Ramon to blacken the girl's reputation. She was said to have stated that she "fancied" Ramon and that she intended to give him her tel no. and address. The judges (in Israel three judges replace a jury) concluded that these statements were probably perjury and accepted the girl's version in toto. So even a Cabinet Minister in Israel is not above the law, but really, was it necessary to destroy his career over one kiss. At least he might have had a full affair for his trouble.
So now we have the President under expectation of indictment for rape and other sexual and non-sexual crimes, we have the Prime Minister under investigation for several financial crimes, including buying a house at a reduced price in exchange for favors granted in buying a Bank, and we have the Minister of Justice found guilty. Many people say "what is this country coming to," that the level of public service has sunk so low. At present less than 20% support PM Olmert, and even fewer support Peretz as Defense Minister. He has lost the support of his own Labor Party for having made so many mistakes and antagonized so many Party members. Of all six potential candidates for Labor Party leadership in the upcoming vote he is at the bottom with 7%.
There is an organization called "The Movement for Quality Government in Israel." of which we are members. However, we are not active mainly because everything is in Hebrew of course. They organize a training program for young public sector employees emphasizing public trust and honest management. It doesn't seem to have had much effect compared to the typical Israeli attitude of shrugging the shoulders and doing what gets results (for you and for me). They also support a program of electoral reform, as do many other organizations and politicians. But, so far it is impossible to change the current unrepresentative system because it favors control by the large Parties (Labor, Likud and Kadima).
Many people now feel that with the current level of malfeasance in office, nothing less than a complete overhaul of the political system, giving much more representation to the ordinary citizen, will do. Forces are gathering to accomplish that, but such an important and difficult process is unlikely to proceed successfully, particularly with the welter of different proposals. As usual in Israel this process may become subordinate to more pressing needs of war and peace.
Some might think it appropriate, that the law applies equally to all, and that any sexual abuse cannot be tolerated. But, at the most this was an apparently mutually agreeable kiss in a public place. The girl never maintained that she didn't want to be friendly towards him, in fact the photo shows her laughing while she puts her arms around him. And after "the kiss" she did nothing demonstrative, such as slap him or verbalize her disgust.
However, other aspects of the case played a role in determining the guilty verdict. There was apparently an attempt by several female employees of Ramon to blacken the girl's reputation. She was said to have stated that she "fancied" Ramon and that she intended to give him her tel no. and address. The judges (in Israel three judges replace a jury) concluded that these statements were probably perjury and accepted the girl's version in toto. So even a Cabinet Minister in Israel is not above the law, but really, was it necessary to destroy his career over one kiss. At least he might have had a full affair for his trouble.
So now we have the President under expectation of indictment for rape and other sexual and non-sexual crimes, we have the Prime Minister under investigation for several financial crimes, including buying a house at a reduced price in exchange for favors granted in buying a Bank, and we have the Minister of Justice found guilty. Many people say "what is this country coming to," that the level of public service has sunk so low. At present less than 20% support PM Olmert, and even fewer support Peretz as Defense Minister. He has lost the support of his own Labor Party for having made so many mistakes and antagonized so many Party members. Of all six potential candidates for Labor Party leadership in the upcoming vote he is at the bottom with 7%.
There is an organization called "The Movement for Quality Government in Israel." of which we are members. However, we are not active mainly because everything is in Hebrew of course. They organize a training program for young public sector employees emphasizing public trust and honest management. It doesn't seem to have had much effect compared to the typical Israeli attitude of shrugging the shoulders and doing what gets results (for you and for me). They also support a program of electoral reform, as do many other organizations and politicians. But, so far it is impossible to change the current unrepresentative system because it favors control by the large Parties (Labor, Likud and Kadima).
Many people now feel that with the current level of malfeasance in office, nothing less than a complete overhaul of the political system, giving much more representation to the ordinary citizen, will do. Forces are gathering to accomplish that, but such an important and difficult process is unlikely to proceed successfully, particularly with the welter of different proposals. As usual in Israel this process may become subordinate to more pressing needs of war and peace.
posted by Jack Cohen at 2:02 PM
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