The Movement for Reform Judaism

A question that has puzzled Israelis of late: Why did Israel recently free more than 400 enemy prisoners with terrorist links in exchange for the bodies of three Israeli soldiers lost in Lebanon and an unsavory live Jewish character, Elhanan Tennenbaum? 

In an effort to understand many of us speculated along these lines:

(1) It was the first stage of a much broader deal with Hizbollah that may lead to the release of more bodies of soldiers, perhaps even live prisoners.
(2) It was a manifestation of the hallowed Jewish principle that s/he who saves one life is as if s/he saved the whole world. The fact that the particular life Israel was saving may have been that of a potential criminal was deemed to be irrelevant.

When Tennenbaum was returned to Israel, he was detained for interrogation. But it seems that he wasn’t saying much. So he was offered a deal: He would tell all and be subject to a lie detector test. If it turned out that he told the truth and that his only crimes had to do with drug dealing and other “civil” maters, he would go free. If, on the other hand, he had given away military secrets, available to him as a reserve officer in the IDF, he’d stand trial for treason.

In the last mentioned case, a third reason for wanting Tennenbaum back could be discerned:

(3) It’s better to have a potential spy back home and find out what he told the enemy than let him stay away.
 
To date, the lie detector tests have proven inconclusive. The High Court is to hear today a petition by two members of Knesset challenging the legitimacy of the deal between Tennenbaum and the government.

***

The plot has now thickened further. The daily Ma’ariv revealed yesterday that, many years ago, Mr. Cohen, the father of Tennenbaum’s estranged (though not formally divorced) wife, had been a business partner with Prime Minister Ariel Sharon. Mr. Sharon insists that he hadn’t seen Cohen for many decades and that he was totally unaware of the connection between him and the Tennenbaums. Mr. Cohen himself says that he told his grandchildren not to mention the connection when they met with the Prime Minister to plead for their father’s release. Nevertheless, people want to know if it was indeed possible that in their meetings with Mr. Sharon, when they urged him to move heaven and earth to bring back their father, they didn’t tell him that he knew their grandfather.

The official opposition in the Knesset is reacting to the story by making customary noises and urging a public enquiry. But the real opposition to Sharon may come from within his own party and its right-wing coalition partners; perhaps even from among his own ministers.

These were put under enormous pressure to support the original deal with the Hizbollah, even though they had very serious reservations about it. After the Ma’ariv disclosure they want to know if there may have been more to Sharon’s interest in the case than met the eye.

It has given rise to a fourth speculation about the reason for Tennenbaum’s release:

(4) Did the Prime Minister want to do a favor to the family of an old business associate?

It’s reasonable to speculate that today many members of Likud and its coalition partners are keener to get rid of Sharon than the official opposition. For the latter knows that his replacement will be a hardliner – and that’s exactly what the former want. Like Jean Chretien before he left office and like Tony Blair today, Arik Sharon has much more to fear from his own party than from the opposition.

***

Like the lie detector used on Tennenbaum, my reflections are very inconclusive. It’s only the nation’s (and my own) fascination with the case that has prompted me to write. Here’s what I think we know with reasonable certainty:

• Tennenbaum ended up in Lebanon for dishonorable reasons. Whether he was a Hizbollah agent, or a double agent, who parted with state secrets, or only a drug dealer with gambling debts, remains to be seen.
• His personal life is colorful. When it was made public that during his more than three years in Lebanon, his family received state support (on humanitarian grounds?), a woman has now emerged claiming similar support for herself and the child she had with Tennenbaum while he was married to his wife. One hears occasional hints of other possible surprises of the same ilk. 
• There are few signs that Tennenbaum is cooperating with the investigation. The longer it takes, the greater the impression that he may have a lot to hide.
• Prime Minister Sharon’s passionate interest in making the deal with Hizbollah and putting great pressure on his colleagues to endorse it has now assumed a sordid significance, which may be either totally unfounded or constitutes evidence that he, too, has a lot to hide in this case.
• All kinds of people with an interest in Sharon’s downfall have been very busy. The Tennenbaum issue may only be the excuse that some are waiting for, especially as the investigation of the Sharon family’s other deals is dragging on and his enemies want to see his downfall before he can implement his proposed unilateral withdrawal from Gaza. 

***

Watching a pale Prime Minister of Israel defend himself on TV and listening to his friends assuring us all that he’s telling the truth made me even more suspicious and confused than I had been so far. It also strengthened the view of those who can’t see how he can hold on until the next General Election, whether it comes in 2006 or 2007.

Jerusalem, March 3, þ2004              

Dow Marmur

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