But it may be good for Israel\u2019s image in the Arab world, casting Israel as a state where no one is above the law, as opposed to Arab regimes and the Palestinian Authority.
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The contrast was not lost on Dr. Sufian Abu Zaida, former PA minister of prisoner affairs, who published an opinion piece in the London-based Rai al-Youm website that voiced unabashed admiration for Israel as a \u201cstate of law\u201d combined with indirect yet withering criticism of President Mahmoud Abbas\u2019s increasingly despotic rule.
Abu Zaida, a supporter of Mohammed Dahlan, the former Gaza security chief who is the main rival to Abbas, wrote: \u201cThe investigation of the prime minister for corruption and bribe taking is the real expression of independence of the judiciary and separation of authorities. It\u2019s the real expression of a genuine state of law where everyone is equal before the law and not a state of counterfeit law.
\u201cIt is of no use to Netanyahu that he is responsible for the Israeli police \u2013 he can\u2019t threaten anyone to get them to overlook the suspicions or accusations he faces, he can\u2019t evade the investigation by portraying it as a conspiracy against the nation,\u201d Abu Zaida wrote. \u201cHe can delay it for a day or two or a week but he can\u2019t avoid it forever or use his powers to cancel the investigation.
\u201cNetanyahu can\u2019t use the security apparatus like the Shin Bet or Mossad to threaten anyone from the police or judiciary under various pretexts. In the rule of law their mission is to protect the country, the law and the citizen.
Their mission is not to protect the president or the prime minister or any other official,\u201d he wrote.
Abu Zaida went on to voice admiration for the fact that Israeli leaders have been forced to resign and to serve time in prison. He wrote that this could happen to Netanyahu also. \u201cHe must give convincing answers to the questions put to him. If they are not convincing, it will end in a charge sheet and a trial and his fate will be like that of his predecessor Olmert.\u201d
Abu Zaida\u2019s column citing the differences between Israel and the PA comes amid signs that Abbas is deploying the judiciary against political opponents and has veered towards one-man rule.
In November, Abbas mounted a purge of supporters of Dahlan from the ranks of his Fatah movement by excluding them from attending the Fatah conference that elected leadership bodies. Prior to that, Abbas cut off the salaries of Gaza PA employees who are supporters of Dahlan.
Last month, a PA constitutional court whose justices were handpicked by Abbas ruled that the president has the authority to rescind the parliamentary immunity of members of the Palestinian Legislative Council. Abbas proceeded to do this to five legislators critical of him, including Dahlan, paving the way for the public prosecutor to complete an investigation against them, reportedly for money laundering and illegal weapons trade.
On December 14, a Palestinian court issued a judgment in absentia against Dahlan on charges he embezzled funds and sentenced him to three years in jail and a $16 million dollar fine. Abbas has also sought to delegitimize Dahlan by hinting that he poisoned Palestinian Authority president Yasser Arafat in 2004.
Abu Zaida wrote: \u201cIn a state of law, the security, executive and judicial apparatuses are not used to serve the president or the prime minister or to be used as a tool or sword on the head of political opponents by fabricating accusations against them of corruption and if they are heavyweight former officials, accusing them of killing. In the state of law, livelihoods are not used as a sword against the necks of people.\u201d
Not everyone was impressed by Abu Zaida\u2019s argument. \u201cYour admiration for the Zionist entity and your saying that it\u2019s a state of law is like admiring a thief who gives some money to charity after plundering his victims,\u201d wrote a talkback respondent, Wasifq. \u201cAre you not ashamed of yourself?\u201d Another respondent, Abu Abed Filastin, wrote: \u201cThe article is great but you should focus clearly and frankly on our Palestinian situation and that of the Arab world so it will not appear as if you are admiring the enemy state.\u201d
Gaza political analyst Fayez Abu Shamaleh also commented admiringly on the police probe of Netanyahu, writing in a Facebook post, \u201cNo one is above the law in Israel. The gates of the prisons [were] locked behind the president of the state and the former prime minister Olmert.\u201d
\u201cDon\u2019t ask me why Israel achieved a victory over all the Arab countries,\u201d he added.
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