Political Death By French Kiss

Last week we witnessed the destruction of yet another talented and powerful Israeli male who could not keep his hands to himself. Haim Ramon, a brilliant politician and a man with a long, promising career ahead of him destroyed his reputation and his future in one impulsive moment. What was he thinking when he forced his tongue between the lips of a female soldier working in his office? Was he imagining Theodore Herzl standing on the balcony of the casino in Basel after creating the Jewish state? Was he visualizing the ingathering of the Jewish exiles in Israel? Could he see Ahmadinajad's visage grimacing toward the Holy Land? Evidently, at that same moment the Israeli Minister of Justice was preoccupied with copping a feel from a young woman who asked to be photographed with him. Is a modicum of restrain too much to ask from our leadership?

The courts thought not and convicted Ramon of an indecent sexual act, transmitting, once again, a very strong message to the citizens of Israel regarding the zero tolerance level that a self-respecting society should have towards sexual harrassment and, at the same time, sending Ramon out to pasture. Unlike Moshe Katzav, a serial sex offender and generally unimpressive individual , Ramon elicits far more sympathy from the public, probably because his indiscretion appears to be the result of an instant of extremely poor judgement rather than the symptom of a serious character defect. Most Israelis would agree that Haim Ramon is a good guy who should be reprimanded for his action, but not politically destroyed for it. The courts thought otherwise; he now bears the title of convicted sex offender. Go make a career in politics with a sign like that hanging over your chest.

The consensus amongst the pundits is that Ramon could have made this embarrassing misdeed go away simply by apologizing. If he would have approached the young woman and her lawyers and said, "I'm so sorry about what happened. It was wrong of me to kiss you like that I wish I hadn't behaved inappropriately towards you," chances were excellent that she would have accepted his apology and moved on, without filing a complaint, and that would have been the end of it. Instead, Ramon chose to fight by attempting to cast doubt on the complainant's integrity and by lying. By choosing to attack rather than admit he was at fault Ramon tied the knot of his own noose.

In the current climate of demand for culpability and responsibility following the war in Lebanon last summer, it's interesting to note that we have yet to witness one Israeli leader, political or military, admit publically that he made a mistake. Whether they believe their actions are blameless or their careers will not be served by telling the truth, the norm here is to never, no matter what, acknowledge that you erred. Even though most upstanding citizens would agree that it takes a person of virtue and character to confess a failure, the citizens of Israel expect their leaders to be paragons of perfection.

So where does that leave Haim Ramon - damned if he does, damned if he doesn't? Maybe not. He chose a ride down that old river in Egypt rather than the genuine introspection that would have lead to an apology. We're loathe to tolerate mistakes by our leaders, but if nobody died then forgiveness is always an option for the truly repentant. Consider the great King David, whose unrestrained lust for the beautiful Batsheva forced him to cynically manipulate the murder of her husband, one of his most loyal soldiers, after discovering she was pregnant with his child. Blinded by hubris, when David's despicable behavior was pointed out to him through a parable, the full weight of his ugly deed came crashing down on him. He couldn't deny it because he answered to a higher authority than the Israeli voting public; instead, he expressed his deep regret over what he had done and was ultimately forgiven.

What a shame Haim Ramon chose to be inspired not by the great leaders of Israel, but rather by his lawyers.