Hanegbi was ultimately reward-
ed with the post of justice minis-
ter — even though he has never
been a practicing lawyer.
He did, however, clerk for
Jerusalem attorney Roni Bar-On,
and was instrumental in the ill-
fated appointment of Mr. Bar-On
as attorney general.
In the criminal investigation of
the Bar-On affair, police investi-
gators recommended that Mr.
Hanegbi be indicted for breach of
trust — along with Mr. Ne-
tanyahu, his chief aid Avigdor
Lieberman and Knesset Member
Arye Deri. Attorney General
Elyakim Rubinstein decided to in-
dict only Mr. Deri, but scored Mr.
Hanegbi for conveniently failing
to inform the cabinet, prior to its
highly unenthusiastic confirma-
tion of the Bar-On appointment,
that Supreme Court President
Aharon Barak opposed it.
As for the recent events, Mr.
Netanyahu suggested afterward
that he would have phrased his
words differently than did Mr.
Hanegbi. But the prime minister,
who evidently approved the con-
tent of Mr. Hanegbi's statement
beforehand, reserved his fire for
the opposition MKs, accusing
them of "hypocrisy" for castigat-
ing Mr. Hanegbi even though they
had made "unbridled attacks" on
Mr. Netanyahu and his family.
Mr. Barak, who was Mr. Ne-
tanyahu's commander in an elite
army unit, accused the prime min-
ister of sending out "his Sancho
Panza" to smear him. "I'm not
worried by this puppy dog, nor by
the one who pulls his leash," Mr.
Barak said.
Immediately after Mr. Haneg-
bi's attack, two of his former para-
troop commanders said they had
heard enough. They told the TV
and press that Mr. Hanegbi had
failed to turn up for one stint of re-
serve duty in Lebanon, took unau-
thorized leave on another, and
that his mother, former right-wing
MK Geula Cohen, had used her
pull to ease his life in uniform. He
was kicked out of two battalions
and twice court-martialed, they
said.
Mr. Hanegbi's office said that
their boss "denounced all the sto-
ries saying he dodged reserve
duty, and that his mother aided
him in this, as complete lies. He
said he is even prepared to forego
his [parliamentary immunity
from prosecution] so those re-
sponsible for these stories —
whom he accused of being liars —
can sue him for slander."
For his part, Mr. Hanegbi is
said to have an eye on a higher
station. He is one of Likud's most
popular grass-roots figures and
probably matched in the party
only by Mr. Netanyahu for orga-
nizational ability, political shrewd-
ness and relentless ambition.
Whenever Mr. Netanyahu's
leadership of the Likud ends, Mr.
Hanegbi is expected to be one of
the chief contenders for the job. 0

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