State closes sedition probe into ex-PM Olmert’s calls for civil disobedience

The State Attorney’s Office has closed its probe into former prime minister Ehud Olmert over allegations of sedition, which arose due to his calls for civil disobedience in protest of the government’s judicial overhaul plan.

Deputy State Attorney Alon Altman explained the development in a letter to a group of dozens of military officers who had asked for the probe, after Olmert gave two television interviews during which he called for “war” and “face-to-face” battles to stop the government from continuing with its contentious program.

The overhaul has met with months of mass protests from opponents who warn it will dangerously weaken the courts’ ability to act as a check and balance against the Knesset’s power. Debate over the plan has deeply divided Israeli society and has been accompanied by vitriolic statements from both sides of the dispute.

In quotes from the letter leaked Sunday, Altman said that despite the questionable nature of Olmert’s remarks, the former premier had clarified that his intention was for fierce opposition within the bounds of the law.

“In these circumstances, the existing doubt regarding the nature of his statement, combined with the clarification of his intentions, justify the decision not to open an investigation,” he wrote, noting that his decision was based on the opinion of State Attorney Amit Aisman.

The letter also said that there is an ongoing probe into remarks made by other senior public figures who allegedly called for revolt.

In June, 40 officers, over half of them pilots, sent a letter to the state attorney demanding that Olmert be investigated over the remarks. They also called for probes into other public figures, among them former prime minister Ehud Barak, former air force fighter pilot and protest leader Nehemiah Dagan, former commander of the Israeli Air Force Dan Halutz, former MK Yair Golan, and Prof. Eyal Naveh. In June, Hebrew media reports said a special task force would be set up to look into those cases.

The letter quoted Olmert as saying, “What we need is to advance to the next stage, the stage of war, and war is not waged with speeches. War is waged in a face-to-face battle. Head to head. Hand in hand.”

He qualified his statement: “Without violence and without breaking the law, but in war as in war.”

Olmert has kept up his combative opposition to the overhaul plan. Last week, after the Knesset approved the first piece of legislation for the plan, he told the UK’s Channel 4 news that Israel is entering into a “civil war.”

“This is a serious threat. It’s never happened before. We are going into a civil war now — civil disobedience with all of the possible ramifications to the stability of the state and the ability of the government to perform, to the obedience of the large part of the Israeli population to a government which is perceived by a large part of the population to be illegitimate.”

“The government has decided to threaten the foundations of Israeli democracy, and this is not something that we can accept or tolerate,” Olmert added.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government and its supporters say that judicial overhaul is need to rein in what they say is an overreaching court system.