An Israeli parole board announced on June 29 that it had granted former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's request for early release. But the witch hunt over the last 10 days (well before the decision was made) raises some difficult questions about the motivation of the state attorney's office in its efforts to keep Olmert in prison for a few more months.
The state attorney did not immediately give up fighting to prevent his early release even after the parole board made its call. The office was actually about to appeal the decision, but public opposition to what seemed like a witch hunt was very intense. Luckily for Olmert, the pressure seemed to work, and the state attorney did give up. After a long, heated discussion and with the encouragement of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, the state attorney's office decided to drop its appeal.
