Tinker, Tailor, Spy and Traitor or Bishara Launderette, Ltd.

It's urgent, it's urgent, and I need it!
by Shmuel Mittlemann
January 2, 2008
Ma'ariv (Today supplement)

"MK Azmi Bishara, sir, you are suspected of breaking the law on a number of counts: you have traveled to enemy states without proper clearance, aided the enemy during wartime, passed information onto the enemy, laundered money received from foreign agencies, became involved with terror financing. We have solid evidence that you have received hundreds of thousands of dollars from Jordan, via an East Jerusalem money changer." This is how Yaron London of the International Crime Unit greeted his distinguished guest. Bishara missed a beat, but quickly recovered: "This is all lies, it's insulting… I never …"

It was an embarrassing situation: the most prominent Arab member of the Israeli Knesset, the intellectual who hopped in and out of Arab capitals, sitting in the interrogation room of the Petach Tikva international crime unit, like a common criminal. Wondering how this came to pass. He denied everything, angrily, vehemently, but the interrogating officer kept on asking the pertinent questions unrelentingly. Bishara felt cornered. He saw no way out. That is why, a few days later, at the end of March 2007, taking advantage of his parliamentary immunity, he fled the country and has not come back since, fearing justice, no doubt. Sometime later he resigned from the Knesset.

Bishara saved his skin from a severe criminal trial concerning the security of Israel, that had the potential to put him behind bars for a good number of years. His minor partner in crime was not so lucky. Last week, Fires Assila, the East Jerusalem money changer, was convicted by the Jerusalem District Court for transferring excessive amounts of money from Jordan to Bishara. No less than three hundred and ninety thousand USD. The source of money in Amman, Jordan, remains a mystery. All through the trial the State (Israel) claimed that the money had been sent from an Arab country, but it is believed that the money source was a terrorist organizations, meaning Hezbollah. The money is also gone, and nobody knows where it went.

Assila was confronted with the incriminating evidence and stood trial. He consented to a plea bargain: admitting to money laundering. His attorney, Reuven Bar-Haim, managed to get him off lightly: the more severe charges of endangering state security were dropped. He will probably spend six to eight months in jail.

Ma'ariv has recently obtained transcripts from Assila's questioning, shedding quite a lot of light on the "money monkey business" surrounding the Bishara affair: declarations obtained from Assila and Bishara and transcripts from their tapped telephone conversations about money transfers and meetings. It appears that there was solid evidence against Bishara, that would have gotten him convicted, at least on the money laundering charge.
Thirty-year-old Assila went to university in Jordan, and is currently an employee of the Assila Bros money changing firm. Their offices are in East Jerusalem, on Saladin Street, a few hundred yards away from the Department of Justice and the Attorney General's Office. On March 16th, 2007, Assila admitted that his dealings with Bishara were an extension of his connection with Bishara's wife Rana, who used Assila's offices to

convert her salary from Bir Zeit University where she was a lecturer. In early 2006, she asked Assila for his private number.

One week later her husband, dr. Azmi Bishara, called him and invited him to their home in the East Jerusalem neighborhood of Beit Hanina. There Bishara asked Assila to help him transfer a certain amount of money from Jordan to Israel. Assila agreed and gave Bishara the address of G., a money changing friend of his in Amman. Bishara asked Assila to notify G. in Amman that every now and then a courier would deposit certain amounts of cash, and that he was not supposed to enquire as to who the man was, who sent him or where the money was coming from.

And this is how it worked: G. would notify Assila whenever the money man arrived. Assila would transfer the money to Bishara and refer East Jerusalem residents seeking to exchange money in order to travel to Jordan on business or for university studies to G. in Amman, who would do the same: send the Bishara money via East Jerusalem investors. During

the next fourteen months, Assila transferred, in complete secrecy and total violation of the law, seven installments of at least fifty thousand USD each, adding up to 390 thousand USD in cash, to Azmi Bishara. "Whenever he called, I'd go to his house and hand him the money."

The International Crime Unit investigator informed the money changer that he was suspect of financing terror, assisting in unauthorized associations, and contact with foreign agents:

"Investigator: Does your money changing firm transfer money from Arab states?
Assila: No, not even once.
I: Then why did you agree to transfer money from Jordan to Bishara?
A: For profit. He agreed to pay me one percent out of every payment.
I: Did you know that the money was being transferred illegally?
A: Yes.
I: Then why did you do it?
A: Because Dr. Azmi is a Christian, famous and honorable. I had no idea the money was meant to finance terror. I was wrong and I am sorry.
I: Did Bishara ask you not to record any of the transfers?
A: No, but it was obvious.
I: Did you use any code words?
A: When he wanted shekalim, he'd say "local" (from the transcripts it appears that Bishara also mentioned "books, local", when he wanted shekalim).
I: Would you have agreed to transfer money for any other person?
A: Of course not. Moreover, had Bishara been Moslem I would have refused because I would have suspected a terror connection."

The transcripts of the phone conversation between Bishara and Assila are even more incriminating. Bishara is laconic and prudent, and uses code words, obviously trying to avoid the unwanted eavesdropper. There is no way he was acting candidly. Sometimes he asked for "urgent" deliveries: "It's been a long time and you're late. And it's got to be in Hebrew. Books." Whenever someone else answered the phone in Assila's office, Bishara would just leave a message for Assila to call Omar.

The following conversation took place on December 28th 2006:
"Bishara: What are you doing tomorrow morning?
Assila: Ok, half a book?
B: Nope, one or two. In Hebrew. It's got to be in Hebrew.
Later the same day:
B: Hello, Fires. Please come by tomorrow morning. It's very very urgent. Because of the holidays. I want to know where I stand."
Assila went to Bishara's house and gave him the money. Bishara called him again, probably before flying abroad and asked: "Please have the remainder ready for me by next Sunday, when I get back."

January 19th, 2007, Bishara calls again and is very laconic:
B: The remainder, when is it possible?
A: How do you want it?
B: Doesn't matter, it's been a long time. You're late. When? Tomorrow? The day after?
A: You want two installments? Tomorrow and the day after?
B: Yes, like the last time.
A: OK, four local?
B: Twenty two-hundred bills."

During the last conversation, on February 17th, 2007, Bishara asked: "Can you bring me the last book?" Assila agreed and two days later brought Bishara the last payment, about 100 thousand USD.

One month later, as evidence was piling up, the police and the Shabak decided the time was ripe for an inquiry. On March 22, 2007, Bishara was summoned to the Petach Tikva international crime unit. He had no idea that the investigators had a solid body of evidence, including the money changer's declarations, tapped conversations transcripts and additional elements, quite sufficient to incriminate him. Bishara was taken aback by the gravity of the accusations:

"Investigator: Do you know Fires Assila?
Bishara: Yes, money changers.
I: Are you conducting any kind of business with them?
B: No, sometimes my wife or I use their services for checks.
I: So you are not conducting any kind of business with their firm?
B: Occasionally I exchange very small sums of money, checks that I receive from different newspapers.
I: So you conduct no personal business with Assila?
B: I have no personal connection with him.

I: Is it possible that he transferred money for you from a foreign source?

B: No, there is no such thing.
I: Has he ever been to your house?
B: Yes, I invite him over when I need to exchange the checks.
I: Does he receive money for you from different sources and transfers you this money?
B: No.
I: We have evidence that he has handed you sums of money received from different sources.
B: No, there is no such thing. If he says so, he's lying.
I: He told us he received money on your behalf. And he mentioned very large sums.
B: There is no such thing.
I: Can it be that someone is trying to frame you?
B: No, there is no such thing. This comes to me as a surprise.
I: He told us that he came to your house on several occasions and handed you large sums of money.
B: It can't be. This is groundless.
I: Do you want to check back with him?
B: No, I don't.
I: Do you understand that this means breaking the law?
B: It surely means breaking the law."

The following day Bishara was questioned again. Officer London confronted him with the previous day's declarations: "Yesterday you told us that you didn't want money from Rabbat Ammon (Amman). Except I never mentioned Rabbat Ammon." Sensing that he had fallen into a trap, Bishara lost his temper and went into a lengthy angry monologue: "You mentioned money transfer, and I understood exactly what you meant, that's why I answered categorically NO. I know those people and I use their money changing services. But this thing comes as a total surprise. Because your accusations make no sense. One can get to Rabbat Ammon by car. I am just a state employee, my wife is also an employee, anyone can tell that we don't have a lot of money. We live a modest life. No way I could have received such large amounts of money. This is insulting. I wish they had sent me some money. I have rich relatives abroad. It is not uncommon for rich relatives to help. But this thing… What would that money have been for? This is quite a surprise… Do you have any information on Azmi Bishara spending money? You have put people on trial for things like that. Had I received any money I would have told you. I have nothing to add, and I am very upset, because I live a modest life and I stay away from these things as fire stays away from water."

People involved in the investigation told Ma'ariv that the secretive conspiracy-like manner adopted by Bishara, the total separation between the Jordanian and Israeli money changers and the very high sums of money involved, point to illegal activities. "This is not writer's fees", they said cynically. At the end of the investigation, Bishara informed the detectives that he was traveling abroad for a few days. They replied that he would be needed for additional questioning upon his return. He promised to be there. Except he has never returned.

Bishara is suspected of aiding Hezbollah target strategic locations in Israel. Many of the victims were Arabs, Druze and Bedouins.

The Nakba Hoax: Aggressor Posing as Victim

Shaul Rosenfeld
May 15, 2007
Ynet Opinion

How did the Zionists, who had the gall not to put their heads through the meat grinder, turn into an "occupying entity", who forcibly expelled the original inhabitants of the land?

“This will be a war of extermination, and a momentous massacre that will be spoken of like the Mongolian massacre and Crusades” boasted Arab League Secretary General Abed-el-Rahman Azzam on the eve of the Arab armies invasion of Israel, May 14th, 1948. Except the secretary wasn't so lucky and instead of seeing the entire Zionist entity butchered and robbed of all possessions, he and his flock earned themselves Nakba day, marked by the Palestinians lamenting their misfortune on May 15th, one day after Israel's Independence Day, the same day that Azzam's false prophecy slapped them in the face.

Over the years, Azzam's rantings turned into false propaganda, fuelled by the works of several Jewish historians and fertilized by vivid oriental imagination, and finally begot the proliferating Palestinian Arab narrative. At the core of the narrative lay the atrocities committed by the Zionist forces in 1948 and ever since. Sorely missing from the narrative is their own responsibility for their fate. They forget to mention their rejection of even modest and restricted Jewish settlement of the meager areas promised either by the Balfour Declaration or by the Peel Report in 1937. They never recognized the UN-endorsed 1947 partition. So they decided to wage war in order to terrify the "foreign entity".

When their dreams and plans of annihilating the Zionists failed miserably despite repeated attempts to butcher and massacre the Jewish population, when their own deeds failed to help their wishes materialize, they found themselves even not even remotely close to their aspirations (some even found themselves far away from their homes) and came up with the role-reversal plot: the aggressor who failed to implement his program, became a pure and innocent victim overnight. He never did anybody any harm. The Zionists who had the nerve to resist the meat grinder became the "evil occupier that drove them out of their homes". According to this logic, Palestinians and Israeli Arabs rally on May 15 to denounce the "atrocities perpetrated against them and their forefathers ", and even more than that - to promote the necessity of letting the refugees back and the restoration of their rights. (Funny, though, this Nakba day isn't even ten years old, as it was first invented and marked in 1998, at Arafat's behest, said Arafat being in fact an Egyptian).

The gatherings, processions and rallies attract many a good Jew, whose tormented soul bleeds due to the inability to contain the "shame". The Nakba day is an example of how Palestinians in Israel and abroad have become experts of mending the "Zionist evil", in real life as well as in history and school books.

But "there's the rub", because the cheapest price demanded by the Nakba implies in fact the destruction of the Jewish state. Even the minutest reparation of the evil from the perspective of one side cannot but severely hurt the interests of the other side. The Palestinians demand the implementation of UN 194 resolution to solve the Palestinian problem, and this is more than Israel can afford.

And if that didn't suffice, there is many a good Jew advocating the idea that two states for two peoples would bring the long desired reconciliation and peace in the Middle East. Except Israeli Arabs do not share in this idyllic vision. Several organizations, such as Adala (Arabic for "justice") - have drawn up documents that put forward an entirely different concept for their future:

- the annulment of theJewish right of return; the return of all the refugees to their homes and immediate granting of Israeli citizenship; citizenship rights for other Arab refugees; automatic Israeli citizenship for all offspring born to a citizen within or without Israel and for anyone marrying an Israeli citizen; changing the definition of Israel from the "Jewish state" to a "multi-cultural state" (multi-crappy-culti); the annulment of all laws contradictory to the Palestinian constitution (Israel isn't mentioned even once in this spuhlendid document, Jerusalem is their capital, and all legislation is to be based on Sharia). All of the above plus the restitution of all lands "stolen" from the Palestinians since 1967 represent just the tip of the iceberg. This is what the moderate Israeli Arabs demand, starting with Azmi Bishara and his supporters including several Jews.

Few Israeli Spring of the Nations believers, and even fewer Arabs, bother to stop for a second and enlighten us ignorants, i.e. those of us who do not share their views, that these demands are not meant only as a challenge, they are meant to put an end to the State of Israel. Those people are not bothered by the implications of such a program, but those of us who are not in favor of a Jewish Nakba, should apply the old Jewish principle "honor and suspect them, but above all - reject them".

Enemy of the Israeli Arabs

Ben-Dror Yemini,
Ma'ariv, April 13, 2007

Scrutiny of the Azmi affair shows that more is concealed than revealed, partly because activists among Israeli Arabs are exercising their right to remain silent: they are agonizing. They have provided significant information on Azmi. If we thought that the Arab sector is homogeneous, well, we were wrong: there are currents and under-currents, and a many members of the Arab community have just had enough. They understand that Bishara's actions have cast a dark shadow upon them and have sent the level of animosity between Arabs and Jews sky-rocketing. Riad Ali published a very explicit commentary on the damage caused by Bishara's going astray.
...
Bishara has become a persona non grata. Senior members of the Arab community claim that he was ordered out of Jordan. They don't need a focus of dissension over there either, a crossbreed between Nasser's pan-Arabism and the Assad-Nasrallah axis. Bishara left Jordan a short time after he met with the Jordanian foreign minister, who probably instructed him to leave the Hashemite Kingdom. A saboteur over here is a saboteur over there as well. If and when the entire puzzle is revealed, sabotage might well look like an euphemism.

Love-sponsored terror
The terrorist driving around a few nights ago in a car loaded with explosives is another product of a love story between a man residing on the other side of the Green line and a woman from this side of the line, in Taibe. In legal terms, this falls under the definition of "family reunification". As a consequence of this reunification based solely on love, the terrorist was issued a valid Israeli ID.
Thus, the issue of "family reunification" has become a thorn in our side. Because of one terrorist, oh, and another one, and perhaps tens of potential terrorists, taking advantage of the "family reunification" option, are we allowed to make tens of thousands of others suffer? The Citizenship Act forbids family reunification and granting of citizenship on such basis, except for special cases. The Supreme Court ruled to abolish this act, but Justice Edmond Levi allowed the government an additional hearing. Who knows what will happen then. The judge panel seems to be leaning far left.
We are probably going to be treated with beautiful front page pictures of loving couples from the two sides of the Green Line, and the caption will reveal how the cruel Jewish State stands in the way of love and abuses its citizens' romantic aspirations. Tears will flow, no doubt.Except the truth is slightly different. No country tolerates family reunification with individuals from hostile areas. No country grants citizenship to people whose only aim is to destroy their adoptive country. No country except Israel, whose democracy is bordering on anarchy. This procedure is not only "made in Israel", it is also ratified by the Supreme Court.

On April 10, 2007, Ma'ariv (Amir Rapaport) reported that 19 members of a Hamas terror cell in Qalqilyah (West Bank) were arrested, one holding an Israeli ID, who were planning to carry out a terrorist attack during Passover, despite the ceasefire agreement. Qalqilyah has a long track of producing terrorists, such as the one who carried out the Tel-Aviv Dolphinarium disco massacre on June 1, 2001. During the past three years, thanks to extensive arrests and the barrier fence (yes, wall in several locations) managed to curb the wave of terrorist attacks originating from this town that lies so close to the Green Line. However, during the last months Israeli security received relevant information and began to suspect that Hamas is operating in Qalqilyah and planning terrorist attacks against Israeli targets. In March a car loaded with explosives exploded in Qalqilyah - a "work accident", according to the Shin Bet. 19 Hamas-affiliated terrorists have been arrested recently in the town, one of whom became an Israeli citizen after he married a resident of Taibe. Thanks to his Israeli ID he was free to enter Israel. The car that exploded belonged to him, and had Israeli license plates.

Azmi again

Nadav Eyal
Ma'ariv, April 13, 2007 (before Azmi's defection)

A swamp has been bubbling since Israeli-Arab weekly Al-Senara gloatingly published its exclusive headlines about Azmi Bishara. Our politicians, weary and heavy with the Passover meals, rushed into their roles: the right cried treason, the left warned of generalizations. The Arab MK's were divided: those who had been in Azmi's camp were justified to express their fears about the future. Those who had not been in Azmi's camp couldn't hide their relief. Some of them loathe Azmi to an extent that wouldn't shame the Hilltop Youth. As one of them put it, they were felt "restrained, but unadulterated joy".

Unfortunately, there are things concerning this issue that cannot be said. However, in order to make something of the Azmi affair, one needs to examine Israeli Arab politics, as it combines all the elements and tensions among the Israeli Arabs. Bishara represents the secular nationalists, pan-Arabism if you wish. Opposing him are those who embrace the Islamic movement. Bishara's nationalistic views are not necessarily socialist, such as are expressed by the Hadash party. Moreover, Bishara is Christian, and that is his Achilles heel. His opponents will not readily admit to it, but they don't consider him "one of them".
In fact, Azmi Bishara isn't one of anybody. He was never seen in the Knesset cafe sitting down to a cup of coffee with his political opponents, Zionists or Arabs. He had no friends in the house. How could he have befriended anyone? He was the absentee champion for years. Bishara was a separatist. Ahmad Tibi, Taleb a-Sana, Muhammad Barake are all part of the Knesset machinery. They are no friends of Zion. They are the bitter parliamentary opposition, revoltingly nationalistic to the best of their abilities. But they are part of the Israeli political scene. They propose legislation, they lobby, they engage in fierce disputes but also share friendly luncheons in the Knesset cafe. Self-righteous Bishara was also arrogant, so he stayed away from the Knesset. So the Knesset, including the left, stayed away from him.
However, in this story two opposing political camps are expressing false joy: the right is concentrating on Azmi's public figure, but if certain facts that cannot be named due to the gag order are right, and if Bishara is in fact not returning to Israel (which he didn't, return, that is), that's bad news. "Imagine", said a political personality this week, "imagine that he starts a political movement abroad, plays the conscience dissenter and calls on all Israeli Arabs to revolt. All Arab MK's will be considered traitors, collaborators with the Israeli regime. We have no need for that. It will not benefit the Jews if the Arab sector distances itself from Israeli political life."
The other camp, the Arab MK's, doesn't get it right either. They are relieved by Bishara's disappearing act, probably hoping that the Jewish sector is going to differentiate between Bishara and themselves. Wrong again. The Jewish public sees no difference between the Arab parties, and does not care about their internal bickering. "All Arabs are the same" in the eyes of many a Jew. Bishara will be just one more brick in the wall that is beginning to separate Arabs from Jews. Just one more reason to argue.

Ami ben-David and Felix Frish
Ma'ariv, May 3rd, 2007

Following months of ambiguity, rumors and speculations, the gag order was finally lifted: former MK dr. Azmi Bishara is suspected of assisting the enemy during the second Lebanon war. According to the Israeli police and the Shin Bet, transcriptions of the telephone conversations conducted by Bishara during the past few months prove that he crossed the red lines and acted as an agent on behalf of the Hezbollah.
Details of the investigations reveal that several months before the second Lebanon war broke out Bishara established telephonic contact with several Hezbollah agents. It appears that during the war, Hezbollah advised the Hezbollah what Israeli objectives they should target, and also offered them assessments on how rockets landing South of Haifa might affect the Israeli public resilience.
On one occasion, Bishara complained about the rockets landing in Arab villages: "I can understand attacking Haifa, but I can't understand rockets landing in Arab villages." And also: "Rockets falling beyond Haifa will precipitate the ceasefire". And indeed, when comparing the dates, several days after this conversation, rockets fell beyond Haifa and Hedera.
The investigators also suspect that Bishara passed on to Hezbollah military information, despite his knowledge that such information was classified (perhaps it is high time that the security of Israel be off-limits for Arab MK's. Let them concentrate on the well-being and welfare of their own electorate). He is also suspected of delivering details concerning the assessment of the situation that the was privy to as a member of the Israeli parliament participating in parliamentary debates during the war. According to the investigators, Bishara warned Hezbollah leader Hassan Nasrallah that Israel might considering targeting when the war was over.
The investigators also reveal that in exchange for information collected and delivered to his operators, Bishara received hundreds of thousands of USD in cash, from several Arab sources, including the Hezbollah. Three money changers with offices in Jordan and East Jerusalem seem to have acted as couriers, delivering each time 50 thousand USD to Bishara's residence in Beit-Hanina (Jerusalem).
The police also claims that the information available to Bishara was not of the highest security level and that he was never exposed to critical security data. This did not stop his Hezbollah operators from seeing in him a reliable source of information, due to his senior political status in Israel: "Bishara's operators considered him a highly reliable source, and they were thirsty for every tidbit of information he could provide."
The covert investigation began in the months prior to the war, with permission from the Attorney General and the State Prosecutor. The Supreme Court authorized the police to tap Bishara's phone lines. On March 22, he was summoned for the first time and was questioned for three hours. The following day he met again with the investigators, but he refused to even consider or even provide a response to the preliminary evidence presented before him. At the end of the meeting, he informed the police that he intended to travel abroad and has since refused to appear before the investigators.
Amichai Shai, head of the police's international crimes unit, was in charge of the investigation, said that it was impossible to stop Bishara from leaving the country before the Knesset Committee lifted his parliamentary immunity. The police feared that action might have disclosed important details of the investigation. In the wake of his flight, Bishara has been declared "wanted for investigation", and should he be found on Israeli soil he will be arrested and brought in for questioning. The police are currently considering an international arrest warrant.

And the rockets did land South of Haifa: Nazareth, Hadera, Afula, Nesher ...

The Gospel of Azmi

(Azmi Bizbullah, courtesy of Ma'ariv).

About the South Lebanon Army – It is inconceivable that traitors and mercenaries be allowed to live amongst us. (October 5, 1999)
About Hezbollah – Hezbollah is a brave national movement that will teach Israel a lesson. It has become a pilot force in the Arab world and it is willing to sacrifice itself for the cause. (February 19, 1999 and June 27, 2000).
About the State of Israel - I am not against the entire Israel becoming Palestine. The Israelis immigrated to us, we did not emigrate to them. (October 14, 2000, interview with Austrian weekly).
About the democratic state – Israel is the greatest robber of the century … Give us back Palestine and take back your democracy. We, the Arabs, are not interested. (December 2005).
According to Ma'ariv, April 10, 2007 (Itamar Enbari), there are several Jewish Israelis in Bishara's constituency among them: translator Yael Lerer, former assistant to Azmi, attorney Leah Tsemel and her husband, Michael Warshawski. I am not surprised that some "people" even consider him their brother. I find this relieving, I now know who my enemies are, thanks to Yisrael Medad.
While crying foul and oppression/suppression he has amassed a substantial fortune (now we know he has been receiving thousands of dollars from Hezbollah and from an undisclosed country), and has managed to close several real estate transactions in the form of houses/mansions in Haifa and Jerusalem, along with securing ownership of his parental house in Nazareth – which is perfectly alright with me: everybody should be entitled to inherit their parents and buy property. According to eye witness reports, he made quite an entrance when he attended his party's (Balad) first post-election gathering in 1996 – in a Benz!!! Which is quite alright with me again – everybody should have access to luxury cars. How many Israeli Arabs can afford several mansions and one luxury automobile? How many Israeli Jews?
I suppose that he is not troubled by any qualms at the thought of several of his Arab brethren (Christian, Muslim and Druze) having been killed in vicious rocket attacks. The cries of the dead and wounded were probably drowned by the sweet sound of counting hundreds of thousands of dollars. There's Judas Iscariot for you! (Azmi is a proud Christian).
By the way, Carl in Jerusalem has a comprehensive analysis of Azmi's secret agent activities.
In any case, some Arab commentators hold Azmi in great admiration, such as Nawaf Atamna who posted on his internet site Machsom (Checkpoint): "Never has the Israeli parliament seen a man of such intellectual prowess, such high moral standards, such sharp insight as MK Azmi Bishara."
I say aye. Alongside the "oldies but goldies" above, here is one more unforgettable example of Azmi's power of expression. Please note the depth of analysis, the ancient wisdom and higher intelligence quality that left his opponent speechless:
On May 12, 2005, during a heated debate in the Knesset's Constitution, Law and Justice committee over an intended bill to sack such MK's who just can't stay away from terror organizations, Likud MK Gilad Erdan (in favor of the legislation) turned to Azmi (fervent opponent by nature and definition) and said: "Go find a good job in Syria." Azmi, with his quick grasp of the words and unique talent of volleying lethal retorts, not to mention aristocratic manners and elegance, shouted at the top of his lungs: "You go fuck yourself, ya piece of garbage!" See? Go find, go fuck…

Ben Caspit (Ma'ariv, dang, those dates again, but I guess last Friday's edition):

Most people agree that Azmi Bishara won't return to Israel. And why should he? Several years ago he started "living la dolce vita". The great, articulate "ideologist" enjoyed life à la Saudi prince: business class flights around the world, VIP lounge receptions, house guest in Arab world leaders palaces, popular rally speaker. Lots of money must have gone into funding all that.

Were he to return to Israel, he would have to enjoy the good life of a prison cell, his name highly

unlikely to appear on the next prisoner exchange list, nor the one after that. That's why Azmi Bishara will not return to Israel, or so his friends will have us know. This is how a brave man runs for his life. The parliamentary career of this great revolutionary comes to an end under suspicion of bribery. The great warrior became a fugitive criminal overnight. The Shabak was aware of his intention to flee the country, yet did not stand in his way. Although weeks ago some suggested that his passport be revoked, Azmi was allowed to travel unhindered.

The first police investigation gave him a hint into what would follow, therefore he packed his bags and boarded the first plane out of Israel only to resurface on Al-Jazeera, as expected. He will keep on bothering us for some time courtesy of Arab TV stations. On the other hand, his image as a freedom fighter (fucker, go find, go fuck, go fight, go fuck), social justice advocate, great socio-political and ideological reformer would have been greatly amplified by the wall-to-wall media coverage of the circus act of his trial (had there ever been one). Now, it appears that Azmi was none of the above (except perhaps fucker).

Let us be clear on this point: investigating ex-MK Bishara is not aiming to investigate the entire Israeli Arab sector. Not even Balad (shame, Zahalka advocates kidnapping IDF troops, plus the Balad trio - Bishara, Zahalka and Wassil travelled to Beirut after the second Lebanon war to express their support for Hezbollah). The police are investigating the doings of one person alone. And rightly so, because the large majority of Israeli Arabs (except the rapists and those who crash their vehicles into ours with the sole purpose of killing us or at least maiming us for life) are not suspected of espionage or money-laundering. The Arab minority in Israel is a lot better than its leaders combined (I largely agree).

...

On the rare occasions when he graced the Knesset with his presence, Bishara's eyes were full of contempt for everything this institution stands for, contempt for the state that generously covered his expenses contempt for his Zionist colleagues, contempt for most of the issues on the agenda. He kept on spitting into the very well he himself was drinking from. And nothing stopped him from fighting like a cornered panther for a seat in the "Zionist parliament". He craved the honors, the attention, the spotlight and mostly the immunity. He never intended to relinquish any of those. Except that now that his monkey business has been discovered, it suddenly dawns on him that perhaps this might be a good time to retire. To do what? Since we know that he has already taken very good care of his own house, he will probably concentrate on ruining our own. Quite adroitly.

There were more sides to his activities. Such as performing discreet missions for the Israeli government, such as carrying Ehud Barak's messages to president Assad, e.g., while the napkin carrying Danny Yatom's proposed borders for Israel retreat from the Golan Heights earned him the "collaborationist" status.

He loathed the media covering that. Balad's internet site did what was expected in such situation: blamed the press. But we loved it. So Azmi traveled to Damascus, met with Assad and presented Barak's plan and how the depth of the redeployment. But as far as he himself was concerned, the world should have remained ignorant. That was worse than spying for the enemy during war: that was colluding with the enemy during peace. Bishara was very careful in picking his enemies, according to his ideology or financial needs at any given time.

All of this is over now. In any normal country this man would not have been allowed a parliamentary seat. Except that six years ago the Supreme Court Justices ruled - seven to four - that he should not be demoted , in other words they came up with a new and original formula on how to turn shit into gold - the risk of Bishara's ideas materializing was so low that he should be allowed to maintain his Knesset seat whence he would be allowed to go on "preaching". This was the lame rationale behind their decision, despite the fact the both Talia Sasson (State Attorney) and Elyakim Rubinstein (Attorney General) recommended outlawing Balad. Translated into English - imagine that the Americans would allow Al-Qaeda supporters Congress seats on the assumption that "the risk of Al-Qaeda's aspirations of destroying the USA is not high enough". In the meantime we have discovered that Bishara's aspirations had a higher chance of materializing than the Supreme court had initially assessed. And we have to pay the price.

And now for a bit of Hebrew:

Az mi boged? (? אז מי בוגד) - so who is a traitor?

Azmi boged (עזמי בוגד) - Azmi is a traitor.