More corruption but this time Haaretz isn’t covering the story
Why not? Because the suspect is Mitzna. They certainly took their time, but at long last, Mitzna is being investigated* for one of the corruption allegations*. I’ve been reading about the allegations of corruption in Haifa* against Mitzna* (who is mayor of Haifa) for a while now. I'm told it's been all over the local papers there for ages, but the only national paper that ran the story up till now was Maariv. This particular charge has to do with his being suspected of being bribed by a Haifa contractor firm. According to this* Hebrew source Mitzna has demanded of the General Attorney that the investigation be finished by Sunday, and TV (I forget which channel) said he even rang him up personally with this request (that doesn’t sound right at all).

I can’t believe that Haaretz still hasn’t published a word about this online. It has to be on tomorrow’s print version front page. They just can’t be that biased.

By the way, they’ve discovered who leaked the Sharon loan investigation and gave the confidential document to Haaretz newspaper. It was the state prosecutor attorney Liora Glatt-Berkowitz who was working on the case and admits it was ideologically motivated, so as to help Sharon’s rivals in the elections. This is really nauseating. It is, of course, giving ammunition to far-right and ultra-religious factions who already claim that the prosecution and the whole judicial system are biased against them.

Hey, I know, maybe Glatt-Berkowitz should take up the Mitzna investigation. Then it’s sure to be finished by Sunday. Maybe before. And I bet I can guess the outcome. What a pity she’s been suspended.

The funniest thing is that the whole country is covered with banners telling us that Mitzna is honest. How embarrassing.
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* Hebrew links.

Update: OK so it appeared on Haaretz English updates at 02:40 am (23 Jan). Why am I so petty? Is it their fault I went to bed? Actually, I now realize I didn’t check their Hebrew online version. Oy! Egg on my face. But still, the story was running all day. Say it did appear on the Hebrew version earlier on, how long does it take to translate?

Ah, here is the print version. You won’t believe this: It’s on the front page! Yippee. My faith in the world is restored! So what if it’s in such small print? Does it matter that it’s underneath a big headline (unusual for Haaretz, they don’t even give terrorist attacks big headlines) about what Cyril Kern told the South African Justice department about the Sharon loan? Note the headline if you will on the English version: ”Police raid Haifa city hall for evidence against
Mitzna”. Smooth. The print version Hebrew headline, although very very small, is less annoying: “The police commenced an investigation against Mitzna on suspicion of accepting bribery from Haifa building contractors”. (My translation)

Sadly, I will continue to read Haaretz, Alisa, and continue to be aggravated by it. A. Bish refuses to stop our subscription, and B. No other Hebrew paper comes near to it in quality and depth.