Public doesn't trust Israeli PM - poll

[Violet_Crumble]

Jerualsem
March 5, 2004

Embroiled in a new scandal, Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said in an interview yesterday he is the victim of organised slander and hinted it could be part of an attempt to block his plan to dismantle some Jewish settlements.

The latest political storm was set off by a report in the Maariv daily that Sharon once had business ties to a relative of Elhanan Tannenbaum, a reputed drug dealer and indebted gambler released in a prisoner swap with Lebanese guerrillas.

Sharon insisted he was unaware of the family ties, but acknowledged the scandal was chipping away at his credibility. A poll published in the Maariv daily indicated that nearly half of Israelis don't believe he was unaware of the connection between his former business associate and Tannenbaum.

The prime minister, who during previous scandals declined to speak to reporters and kept up a business-as-usual demeanour, gave back-to-back interviews this time, denying favouritism could have played a role in his handling of the prisoner swap.

http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/03/04/1078378913048.html

[JohnLocke]

1. Sharon is done.

He's over.

[Darranar]

2. I hope so!

[JohnLocke]

3. Good riddance, too.

If I was an Isreali, I'd go Labor.