Sharon lashes out over corruption charges

Embattled Ariel Sharon has lashed out at his political rivals, accusing them of trying to unseat him with “despicable lies”.

The Israeli prime minister went on the offensive after a wave of scandals wiped out his comfortable lead in the polls before elections on January 28.

He is under police investigation over a €1.5m loan from a South Africa-based businessman, and his party is targeted with charges of underworld involvement and corruption in its internal elections.

Amid the allegations, Sharon suddenly faced a virtual election tie in the polls, raising the possibility that dovish Amram Mitzna of Labour, who opposes Sharon’s harsh policies towards the Palestinians, could form the next Israeli government.

Boiling with anger and pounding the podium at a prime time news conference last night, Sharon denied knowledge of the loan his sons took to cover the return of illegal campaign funds from an earlier election.

Sharon insisted he had documents to prove he did nothing wrong and accused Labour of cooking up the scandals because it was behind in the polls.

“I never imagined that the behaviour of the Labour party would be so irresponsible,” he said. “They tried to turn all of us into the mafia, into organised crime, and all for the sake of politics.”

A few minutes later, in an unprecedented move, the chairman of the Central Election Commission, Supreme Court Justice Mishael Cheshin, pulled the plug on the live broadcast on Israeli radio and TV stations. The news conference continued without live coverage.

According to Israeli law, the stations are forbidden from broadcasting “election propaganda” in the month before the voting, except in special blocs set aside for campaign spots.

Cheshin said earlier that he would enforce the law rigorously this year in an attempt to show that it must be repealed. The law dates from a time when Israel had only one TV channel and two radio stations, a contrast to the wide selection of stations available over the air, on cable and by satellite today.

Rejecting Labour’s demands that he resign because of the scandals, Sharon said he would not step down “because of a political provocation”.

Sharon said his son Gilad arranged the loan to help him repay what Israel’s state comptroller decided was an improper campaign contribution from an earlier election, and that the loan was properly reported to the authorities.

“I did not know exactly how the money was obtained,” Sharon maintained. “Everything was done the proper way ... There is no bribery.

“If the police want to come and interrogate me, let them come and ask questions. I have nothing to hide.”

Avraham Burg, a leading Labour MP, ridiculed Sharon’s explanations.

“A prime minister doesn’t know what’s going on in his own pocket?” Burg said. “How does he know what’s going on in Israel?”

Sharon called elections in November after Labour bolted his “national unity” government in a dispute over Jewish settlements in the West Bank and Gaza.

Initial polls had shown he would have an easy time of it, and that his Likud Party and its hawkish allies would win a comfortable majority in parliament.

With Sharon able to set up a far-right government, he could try to dictate terms to Labour to enter another unity government, this time as a junior partner.

That would bury Mitzna’s policy of immediate negotiations with the Palestinians, a pull-out from Gaza and, if necessary, unilateral determination of Israel’s border with the West Bank, positions Sharon calls dangerous to Israel.

But the scandals have taken their toll, according to polls published yesterday, showing Likud and its bloc with only a tiny majority.