March 29, 2008

Abstract: (Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Israel would oppose a proposal by lawmakers to release the convicted son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, according to a poll by Maagar Mochot released by Israel Radio. 48 per cent of respondents think Omri Sharon should not be pardoned.

(Angus Reid Global Monitor) - Many people in Israel would oppose a proposal by lawmakers to release the convicted son of former prime minister Ariel Sharon, according to a poll by Maagar Mochot released by Israel Radio. 48 per cent of respondents think Omri Sharon should not be pardoned.

Ariel Sharon took over as Israel’s prime minister in March 2001. In November 2005, he resigned as leader of Israel’s governing right-wing Likud party, in a move that also required him to call an early election. On Jan. 4, 2006, when he was still the country’s prime minister, Sharon was rushed to hospital after suffering a cerebral haemorrhage. He has remained in a coma since then.

Omri Sharon was convicted of lying under oath, violations of the electoral code, and the fictitious registration of corporate documents. According to the indictment, Ariel Sharon’s son received about $1.5 million U.S. in campaign financing from corporations in Israel and abroad between July 1999 and February 2000.

In January 2007, the Supreme Court of Israel said Omri Sharon would begin to serve time in prison in February. He had been sentenced to nine months in jail, but the term was later reduced to seven months. Omri Sharon then appealed the decision, claiming he was his father’s primary caregiver. The court rejected his petition.

Omri Sharon was a lawmaker until his conviction in 2005. His political allies have asked Israeli president Shimon Peres to grant him a pardon. Peres—a former leader of the Labour party—became a close associate of Ariel Sharon after the Kadima party was established.

Omri Sharon has been in jail for three weeks. On Mar. 17, six ministers and 25 members of the Israeli legislature signed a petition asking Peres to grant him parole in order "to enable him to sit at the bedside of his father, the former prime minister."

On Mar. 18, Omri Sharon declared: "I won’t ask for [a pardon] and I know I wouldn’t get one."

Polling Data

Do you support or oppose the initiative of members of the Knesset to get a pardon for Omri Sharon?

Support	37%
Oppose	48%
Other	15%

Source: Maagar Mochot / Israel Radio
Methodology: Interviews with 527 Israeli adults, conducted on Mar. 18, 2008. Margin of error is 4.5 per cent.