Bribe scandal threatens Sharon’s future

ARIEL SHARON’S future as Israeli leader was in grave doubt last night as he faced possible charges following the indictment of a property developer on charges of bribing the prime minister.

Justice Ministry officials said they were considering indicting 75-year-old Mr Sharon as well.

Analysts said the indictment against David Appel increases the chances that Mr Sharon may face charges a move that the Supreme Court has ruled would compel him to suspend himself from office pending the outcome of a trial.

Increased pressure on Mr Sharon could further endanger the already moribund peace process, destabilise the coalition government and trigger a gloves-off battle for succession in the upper ranks of the Likud, politicians and analysts said.

Mr Sharon's office said it was business as usual: "The prime minister continues to work as scheduled and has not changed anything in his work," an official said.

Justice Ministry officials said a decision about whether to indict Mr Sharon and one of his sons would be made in the coming weeks or months, after the investigation is completed.

Nonetheless, opposition MPs called on the prime minister to quit.

"He should resign," said former Labour Finance Minister Avraham Shochat. "He is polluting the atmosphere."

Opposition MP Yossi Sarid said that if cornered, Mr Sharon might use diversionary tactics, with dangerous implications for peace.

"He could complicate the country in military or political adventures," Mr Sarid said. "He could get us caught up in a little war."

Appel was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates court for giving Mr Sharon hundreds of thousands of pounds to promote an ambitious project to buy a Greek island resort when Mr Sharon was foreign minister in 1999, and to help rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during his term as prime minister. Neither project came to fruition.

During 1988-99, the indictment said, Appel "gave Ariel Sharon a bribe in recognition of activities connected to the fulfilment of his public positions".

It said Appel paid more than $700,000 towards Mr Sharon's family ranch in the Negev desert. Appel, a powerful activist in Sharon's Likud Party, also promised his support to Mr Sharon in party primary elections, the indictment said.

The indictment also charged Appel with paying a bribe to Vice Premier Ehud Olmert to promote the Greek project when Mr Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem in the late 1990s.

It also charged that Mr Sharon's son, Gilad, had been hired as a consultant in the Greek project, serving as a middleman in accepting the bribes.

Appel's lawyer, Moshe Israel, denied the charges. "There is no doubt he is innocent," he said.

In order for Mr Sharon to be charged, prosecutors must be convinced that a bribe was accepted with criminal intent.

Still, the indictment further complicated Mr Sharon's legal problems.

He is also being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal campaign financing. Prosecutors suspect that a British businessman now living in South Africa gave an improper $1.8 million loan during Mr Sharon's 1999 primary campaign for the Likud Party leadership.

Legal affairs analyst Moshe Negbi said "it is not reasonable to believe that Sharon did not know" what Appel's money was being offered for. "That constitutes criminal intent."

But Eyal Arad, an adviser to Mr Sharon during the 1999 elections, played down the accusations.

"If it was a serious issue, with real proof against the prime minister, that would require a separate debate and of course an indictment against him," he said.

Even if Mr Sharon isn't charged, public pressure and anger within the Likud Party could force him to step down, political analyst Emmanuel Rosen said.

Veteran Israel Radio analyst Hanan Krystal said that if a case against Mr Sharon develops, Justice Minister Yosef Lapid could lead his 15-seat Shinui party out of the coalition government, robbing Mr Sharon of his present six-seat majority and leaving him vulnerable to a vote of no confidence.

Mr Krystal said likely candidates were already manoeuvring in the event Mr Sharon leaves office, with arch-rival Benjamin Netanyahu in favour of early Likud primaries. Mr Olmert, as vice premier, would otherwise be a strong contender, but his alleged involvement in the Greek property deal will likely harm his chances.