Israel’s Attorney General lifted the threat of indictment against Ariel Sharon on Thursday in a scandal over illegal campaign funds but charged the prime minister’s son, Omri, with fraud and other crimes in the same case.
The decision closes the second of three corruption investigations which have dogged Sharon and threatened to derail his ”disengagement plan” to pull Israeli settlers out of the Gaza Strip. But there is a widespread view within Israel’s legal system and among the public that Sharon escaped for political reasons and that his 40-year-old son and political adviser has accepted responsibility on his behalf.
Omri Sharon faces up to seven years in jail if convicted of charges over the alleged laundering of illegal campaign contributions through front companies used to fund his father’s bid for the leadership of the Likud party six years ago. Sharon won the race, which laid the ground for his election as prime minister.
A criminal investigation was launched after the state comptroller’s office uncovered the laundering of illegal campaign funds and suggested there may have been criminal behaviour by the prime minister, his sons, Omri and Gilad, and leading political aides.
Sharon denied knowledge of the transactions and blamed Omri. His eldest son remained silent during police questioning on the affair.
As Omri is an MP, the attorney general, Menahem Mazuz, is expected to ask Parliament to lift his immunity.
The attorney general also indicted one of the companies allegedly involved in the money laundering, Annex Research, and its director, Gabriel Manor.
Mazuz said he was not persuaded of the prime minister’s innocence in the affair, but there was not enough evidence to indict him.
”The closure of a criminal investigation due to lack of sufficient evidence is not a public certificate of approval for the actions of the persons in question,” Mazuz wrote in his decision.
Cases were also dropped against two of Sharon’s close aides, Dov Weisglass and Uri Shani.
But a leftwing MP, Ran Cohen, told the Israeli newspaper, Ma’ariv, that he believed Sharon must have known about the illegal funds if his son was involved.
”An indictment against Omri Sharon leads to Ariel Sharon,” he said. ”The court might judge the son but the public will judge the father.”
Sharon and his sons still face a separate but related investigation into accusations that a $1-million loan from a British businessman living in South Africa was allegedly illegally used to repay the illicit campaign contributions after they were uncovered.
The prime minister told the state comptroller’s office that he raised the money used to repay the campaign funds by selling property. The police are investigating whether he lied to the state comptroller, which is a criminal offence.
Nine months ago, Mazuz decided not to indict Ariel Sharon for bribery amid allegations that he accepted money as a Cabinet minister to persuade the Greek government to allow a business associate to build a casino on an Aegean island.
The decision was widely questioned because Israel’s chief prosecutor at the time had concluded there was sufficient evidence to charge the prime minister with accepting hundreds of thousands of pounds in bribes.
An Israeli military panel has recommended halting the policy of destroying the homes of suicide bombers and their families on the grounds that it probably encourages further attacks. Human rights groups have long branded the destructions as illegal under international law because they amount to collective punishment. Punitive demolitions have left more than 4 000 people homeless. The army panel recommendation comes a week after both sides called a ceasefire in the four-year intifada. The Israeli army has killed four Palestinians, including two children, since the truce. – Guardian Unlimited Â