Twelve minutes and 37 seconds into Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon's prime-time defense Thursday tonight against mounting corruption allegations, an Israeli Supreme Court justice ordered to stop the live broadcast, declaring that Sharon's news conference amounted to an electoral appearance outside the time allotted to candidates.
Israeli law prohibits electioneering in broadcasts except during periods specified for political advertising.
During one of his most emotional outbursts against those accusing him of shady dealings, Sharon glared into the cameras broadcasting his appearance, slammed his hand on a lectern and shouted: "Have you gone mad? Have you lost your mind?"
The Israeli justice said that Sharon's attack on the Labor Party and its chairman Amram Mitzna constituted a violation of the broadcasting law preventing the airing of "election propaganda" in the month leading up to elections.
Sharon's Likud party said that due to the black out, the prime minister was not able to properly answer the allegations against him.
During the press conference, Sharon admitted that he was not exactly certain how his sons, Omri and Gilad, had obtained the $1.5 million to use as collateral for a loan to pay back allegedly illegal campaign contributions made to Sharon's campaign for the Likud leadership in 1999. (Albawaba.com)
© 2003 Al Bawaba (www.albawaba.com)
