ROAD KILL

Hawks Circle Israeli PM as Scandals Widen: Likud Politicians Seen Preparing For Battle of Succession (CHEMI SHALEV, AUGUST 8, 2003, The Forward)

Israeli politicians have begun gearing up for a battle of succession as Prime Minister Sharon struggles against a mounting wave of legal investigations and charges of corruption that could potentially drown his political career, perhaps in the coming months.

During the last two weeks, hardly a day has gone by without another serious blow to Sharon's image and standing. The prime minister is described by ministers, officials and close observers as increasingly preoccupied and short-tempered, as befits a man who, so goes the growing speculation among insiders, has begun to fear that the end is nigh.

The attorney general and the state comptroller, considered the government's guardians of public propriety, this week formally and scathingly declared that Sharon had acted "gravely" by disregarding a clear-cut conflict of interest between his official capacities and his personal interests in a real estate case. But that was the least of Sharon's problems. Two separate criminal investigations, involving illegal campaign financing and possible bribe-taking, are rapidly converging on Sharon's two sons, Gilad and Omri, and from there, according to authoritative police sources, on to the prime minister himself. Even if he emerges without a formal indictment, political analysts now say Sharon's tenure might soon buckle under the accumulated weight of the various investigations and charges against him.

Likud politicians seen as leading candidates to replace Sharon, should he be forced to resign, have begun discreetly but frantically cultivating the party's regulars, trying to position themselves for a possible fight for the throne in the very near future. Former prime minister and current Finance Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, though hurt by his unpopular economic austerity program, is still considered to be the frontrunner, especially if no new elections are called. Without new elections, a new prime minister must be drawn from the current Knesset, ruling out the popular Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz. The main challenger to Netanyahu would then be Deputy Prime Minister and Industry, Trade and Labor Minister Ehud Olmert, assuming he is not indicted himself.

On the one hand, it would be easier for Arab leaders to deal with an Israeli leader who enflames fewer passions than Sharon, but, on the other, it will be harder for his successor to do what must be done, having less hard-line credibility with the Jewish people. Posted by Orrin Judd at August 9, 2003 7:17 AM