Subscribe to Print Edition | Sun., May 11, 2008 Iyyar 6, 5768 | | Israel Time: 03:47 (EST+7) web haaretz.com   Back to Homepage Rosner's Domain Diplomacy Defense Jewish World Opinion National Print Edition Advertising Books Arts & Leisure Business Real Estate Easy Start Travel Week's End Anglo File

Prime Minister Ehud Olmert during a press conference on Friday. (Jini) Last update - 07:32 10/05/2008 The fog of battle ANALYSIS / Olmert probe shows the media really is the message By Amir Oren Tags: Israel, bribery  The time: Thursday, May 1, 3:30 P.M. The place: the police commissioner's bureau at National Police Headquarters in Jerusalem. The host: Police Commissioner David Cohen. The guests: Police Spokesman Rafi Yafeh and spokespeople for the force's districts and departments. On the agenda: a discussion about the police's relationship with the press. Channel 2 television was hours away from airing a sensational report on the urgent summoning of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert for questioning in the framework of a new criminal investigation against him, but the meeting's participants were not in the loop. On Cohen's orders, the probe was strictly compartmentalized. The spokeswoman for the Investigations and Intelligence Department, which is handling the probe, was kept in the dark, and so was Yafeh, a senior officer, who was thereby subjected to the indignity of being portrayed as someone whose commanding officer does not trust him to keep a secret. But this policy of compartmentalization did not work. Olmert's associates responded to the news about the investigation in a way that led viewers to believe that the information had been leaked by the police. Advertisement The investigation into Olmert's relationship with the man dubbed "Mr. T" has once again proven two ancient truths about the media. One is that "the medium is the message," as Marshall McLuhan averred in his classic work, entitled Understanding Media. The other is that the presence of the observer alters the outcome of the experiment he is there to observe. The proof can be found in the surprising twists that the press has woven into the story's plot by reporting on it. The media midwifed the affair, kept it from dying and has turned itself into the arena for the coming rounds. Last week, on the eve of his interrogation, Olmert and his associates needed every bit of information they could get to help them prepare for the grilling and construct a credible account. The most effective, legal - and possibly desperate - way of obtaining this information was to leak the story, in the hope of putting the competitive and quick-acting media on its trail. That way, Olmert's team would have 12 hours, the amount of time between publication and the premier's interrogation, to find out how much the police already knew and what they were seeking to discover. For the past week, the investigators and the suspects in the case have been engaged in a war of wits that has been conducted away from the public eye. From Syrian President Bashar Assad's nuclear reactor to Olmert's pockets, the State of Israel has become infatuated with gag orders. Instead of being a light unto the nations, we have national news blackouts. The main developments in the case have been as follows: It began with an investigative report by Gidi Weitz that was published in the Haaretz Week's End supplement in August 2006. The report concerned the dealings between Olmert, back when he was industry and trade minister, and his friend, supporter and former partner, attorney Uri Messer. The affair then landed on the desk of the state comptroller, who in April 2007 recommended that the attorney general consider initiating a criminal investigation into Olmert's actions. Thereafter, the case was the subject of months of head-scratching and soul-searching by the State Prosecutor's Office and the police. Eventually, further journalistic prodding helped the authorities resolve the hiccups, burps and filing errors surrounding the case, and the officers and attorneys finally managed to insert the proverbial key into the ignition. The filing errors, as it turned out, were the fault of the police, who failed to properly examine the material they had received from the State Prosecutor's Office. The most damning piece of evidence in the file had been overlooked, until the press started sniffing around again. The document that the police had overlooked originally came from State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who found that while Olmert served as trade minister, his ties with Messer - who represented an entrepreneur seeking a grant from the ministry's Investment Center - raised suspicions of impropriety. Lindenstrauss noted that Olmert had "a decisive involvement in the case despite his conflict of interests." Lindenstrauss gave his material to Attorney General Menachem Mazuz on April 25, 2006. But 11 months and one day passed before the ice broke under Olmert's feet, on March 26, 2008. In the first week of April, Mazuz was still dismissive about the Investment Center case. By the third week, he had run out of snickers. Israel did not manage to come to Mr. T., but Mr. T. came to Israel. He is a clever Jew who knows the difference between killing time in New York and doing time in Ma'asiyahu Prison. Moreover, the money trail could very well lead to North America, and Mr. T. may be even more afraid of the FBI than of the Israeli police. Whatever the reason, he did not exercise his right to remain silent. But this triad of Olmert, North America and money is not the only possible combination. When the gag order is lifted, it may turn out that campaign finance also plays a serious role in the case. If Olmert ever admitted taking money illegally, he would rather claim the money was for political purposes than for his own use. After all, an election scandal is better than being thought a thief. Bookmark to del.icio.us   Siniora vs. Hezbollah The Lebanon prime minister accuses Hezbollah of staging a coup. Plant down - again Palestinians say tha Gaza power plant has closed due to a fuel shortage.   1.   Very interesting except from April 2006 to March 2008 is not 15:55  |  S 09/05/08   2.   the probing 19:06  |  beni 09/05/08   3.   Don`t over-value the media... 21:16  |  Esther 09/05/08   4.   Every nation deserves government it has 21:28  |  Simon 09/05/08   5.   HAHA! Media 22:45  |  Paul 09/05/08   6.   what oren is saying 08:44  |  ben hillel 10/05/08   7.   The MEDIA???... 09:44  |  Dagma 10/05/08   8.   MEDIA MAFIA 09:54  |  Jossi 10/05/08   9.   Olmert probe 10:09  |  Diana 10/05/08   10.   The New Jerusalem Foundation.... 10:14  |  Dolly 10/05/08   11.   Olmert Probe 11:50  |  moira 10/05/08   12.   Cover-ups, media and daylight 11:58  |  Colin 10/05/08   13.   Huh? Amir Oren`s "Greek Island" disclosure was stiffled by "Haare 12:08  |  Absolute Sweden 10/05/08   14.   DOLLY 10 - Re the New Jerusalem Fund 17:10  |  The Threadmill 10/05/08   15.   Don`t pre-judge 02:17  |  Motic 11/05/08

Read & React Hezbollah fighters start withdrawing from Beirut Responses: 618 British PM: Israel`s creation one of 20th century`s `greatest achievements` Responses: 337 Ahmadinejad: Israel is a 'stinking corpse' doomed to disappear Responses: 367 Key witness 'fears Olmert may seek to harm him' Responses: 96 Jews bend over backward to stay neutral in U.S. vote Responses: 128 Jerome Segal: Through tough love, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict can be ended Responses: 145 Rosner's Domain Obama and the Jews: is 61% enough? Who's pushing the US to war with Iran? (WTR) Poll: If Olmert is gone, who should be PM? What Muslims really think? (WTR) The Democrats are fighting over Iran More Headlines 01:57 Hezbollah claims victory as Lebanon gov't U-turns 02:13 ANALYSIS: Clashes in Lebanon have yet to affect Israel 22:48 Olmert to appeal move to hear early testimony from key state witness 22:16 21 Qassams hit the Negev on Saturday, lightly hurting five 03:03 Organizers hope Olmert probe won't cast shadow on Peres conference 01:16 Jewish Republicans are jockeying to win McCain's favor 01:06 ANALYSIS: Hezbollah, Lebanon gov't are boxers girding for next round 22:24 Rabbi testifies in support of Hamas-linked imam facing U.S. ban 03:02 Kfir brigade leads in W. Bank violations 03:24 Tales from a N.Y. cabby: 'My first wife was Muslim, my second Jewish' Previous Editions Select Day 09 may 08 may 07 may 06 may 05 may 04 may 02 may 01 may 30 apr 29 apr 28 apr 27 apr

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