10 sept 2015
The Defense Minister confirmed the statement on two different occasions, stating that no arrests had been made in order to avoid exposing intelligence sources in court.
Security forces know who was behind the deadly arson attack in Duma last month, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon confirmed during a meeting of the Likud youth branch Tuesday.
Ya'alon was asked whether security forces had apprehended those responsible for the Jewish terrorist attack which killed three members of the Dawabsheh family, to which he answered, "We know who is responsible, but we will not expose those findings in order to protect our intelligence sources."
Ya'alon arrived at the ceremony, a festive event welcoming the New Year with the Likud youth, and referred to the incident which shocked the whole country.
"We are facing difficulties in establishing solid evidence," Ya'alon said to the attendees. "Right now we are not prosecuting those responsible in order to not expose our intelligence sources in court."
Ya'alon reaffirmed his comments during a Thursday a briefing at the Kirya military base, which centered on the lack of progress made in the Shin Bet investigation. He compared the current situation faced by the defense establishment to attempts at solving the investigations of two terrorist attacks in the early 1990s, which were thought to have been carried out by terrorists from the Popular Front during his time as commander of the Judea and Samarea division.
"We didn’t have enough evidence at that point to charge them, even though we know that they had carried out the attacks," he said. "So we arrested 59 members of the Popular Front who lived in the Ramallah area, and placed them in an extended six month administrative detention, and they were released after two years," he added.
"The attacks stopped immediately after the arrests, but resumed soon after their release. We won't stop our efforts to gather the evidence which will lead to indictments of those responsible for the Duma attack," Ya'alon concluded. Naser Dawabsheh, a member of the family, responded to the statement saying, "Ya'alon's statement is not justified, Israel must immediately expose the murderers. They burned the whole society and not just Duma."
Dawabsheh continued to say, "I know the attack was a major incident for Israel, and that Israel wants to arrest them in order to show the world that it is a country which chases and apprehends murderers." But he also added that, "Even if they will be arrested, what will happen then? The court will just say they are crazy, and they will live out their lives in some hotel like the murderers of Mohamed Abu- Khdeir."
Member of Knesset Aida Toma-Suleiman (Joint Arab List) reacted to Ya'alon's comments saying, "The Minister of Defense, who left the Dawabsheh family to die, continues his flagrant scornful attitude by saying that they will not prosecute the criminal murderers - in order to not expose their sources."
The Joint List MK continued to say, "Would it even be possible to think that the defense establishment would act the same way if a Jewish family was murdered. Ya'alon's remarks confirm the forgiving attitude within the system towards settler terrorism, which allows for the next murder." The Dawabsheh family home was set alight on July 31st. An initial investigation revealed that masked men threw Molotov cocktails into two homes, and spray painted "Long live the messiah king," and "revenge" in Hebrew on the walls.
The Dawabsheh family was staying in one of the homes, while the other was vacant. The family woke up as a result of the fire, and tried to escape the flames with two of their children, four-year-old Ahmed and eighteen-month-old Ali. The family managed to escape, however infant Ali died as a result of his burns. Saed Dawabsheh, Ali's father, succumbed to his injures a week later. Ali's mother, Reham fought for her life for over a month, but she too succumbed to her wounds on Sunday. The condition of the family's eldest son, Ahmed, has improved slightly in recent weeks, but he continues to be treated in the intensive care unit at Beer Sheva's Soroka hospital.
Reham's funeral took place in Duma, with 2000 people in attendance. Marchers at her funeral procession could be heard chanting, "Oh, Hamas, oh, al Qassam, attack them, the blood of the martyrs is calling you," while others yelled "Stop the criminals and murderers."
Hussien, Reham's father, protested the lack of arrests made in the case. According to him. "There is no such thing as not finding them. It's not my job; it’s the Shin bet's. A whole family died here." According to the Dawabsheh family, they have yet to be updated on the progress of the situation in light of multiple requests to the relevant officials.
Security forces know who was behind the deadly arson attack in Duma last month, Defense Minister Moshe Ya'alon confirmed during a meeting of the Likud youth branch Tuesday.
Ya'alon was asked whether security forces had apprehended those responsible for the Jewish terrorist attack which killed three members of the Dawabsheh family, to which he answered, "We know who is responsible, but we will not expose those findings in order to protect our intelligence sources."
Ya'alon arrived at the ceremony, a festive event welcoming the New Year with the Likud youth, and referred to the incident which shocked the whole country.
"We are facing difficulties in establishing solid evidence," Ya'alon said to the attendees. "Right now we are not prosecuting those responsible in order to not expose our intelligence sources in court."
Ya'alon reaffirmed his comments during a Thursday a briefing at the Kirya military base, which centered on the lack of progress made in the Shin Bet investigation. He compared the current situation faced by the defense establishment to attempts at solving the investigations of two terrorist attacks in the early 1990s, which were thought to have been carried out by terrorists from the Popular Front during his time as commander of the Judea and Samarea division.
"We didn’t have enough evidence at that point to charge them, even though we know that they had carried out the attacks," he said. "So we arrested 59 members of the Popular Front who lived in the Ramallah area, and placed them in an extended six month administrative detention, and they were released after two years," he added.
"The attacks stopped immediately after the arrests, but resumed soon after their release. We won't stop our efforts to gather the evidence which will lead to indictments of those responsible for the Duma attack," Ya'alon concluded. Naser Dawabsheh, a member of the family, responded to the statement saying, "Ya'alon's statement is not justified, Israel must immediately expose the murderers. They burned the whole society and not just Duma."
Dawabsheh continued to say, "I know the attack was a major incident for Israel, and that Israel wants to arrest them in order to show the world that it is a country which chases and apprehends murderers." But he also added that, "Even if they will be arrested, what will happen then? The court will just say they are crazy, and they will live out their lives in some hotel like the murderers of Mohamed Abu- Khdeir."
Member of Knesset Aida Toma-Suleiman (Joint Arab List) reacted to Ya'alon's comments saying, "The Minister of Defense, who left the Dawabsheh family to die, continues his flagrant scornful attitude by saying that they will not prosecute the criminal murderers - in order to not expose their sources."
The Joint List MK continued to say, "Would it even be possible to think that the defense establishment would act the same way if a Jewish family was murdered. Ya'alon's remarks confirm the forgiving attitude within the system towards settler terrorism, which allows for the next murder." The Dawabsheh family home was set alight on July 31st. An initial investigation revealed that masked men threw Molotov cocktails into two homes, and spray painted "Long live the messiah king," and "revenge" in Hebrew on the walls.
The Dawabsheh family was staying in one of the homes, while the other was vacant. The family woke up as a result of the fire, and tried to escape the flames with two of their children, four-year-old Ahmed and eighteen-month-old Ali. The family managed to escape, however infant Ali died as a result of his burns. Saed Dawabsheh, Ali's father, succumbed to his injures a week later. Ali's mother, Reham fought for her life for over a month, but she too succumbed to her wounds on Sunday. The condition of the family's eldest son, Ahmed, has improved slightly in recent weeks, but he continues to be treated in the intensive care unit at Beer Sheva's Soroka hospital.
Reham's funeral took place in Duma, with 2000 people in attendance. Marchers at her funeral procession could be heard chanting, "Oh, Hamas, oh, al Qassam, attack them, the blood of the martyrs is calling you," while others yelled "Stop the criminals and murderers."
Hussien, Reham's father, protested the lack of arrests made in the case. According to him. "There is no such thing as not finding them. It's not my job; it’s the Shin bet's. A whole family died here." According to the Dawabsheh family, they have yet to be updated on the progress of the situation in light of multiple requests to the relevant officials.
Jerusalem police arrest Mordechai Vanunu for breach of his parole, after he was interviewed on Channel 2 news.
Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was arrested on Thursday morning, likely due to the interview he gave Channel 2 last Friday. He will be brought in front of a judge later on Thursday.
He was arrested by the Central Unit of the Jerusalem Police, in coordination with the Shin Bet, under whose strict surveillance he has been his release from prison in 2004.
As part of the conditions of his parole, he was not allowed to leave Israel for a year, required to report his movements, barred from coming near the Palestinian Authority, and more.
Adv. Yemima Abramovich, Vanunu's defense attorney, said that the interview was not a breach of his parole.
"He is allowed to talk to Israeli journalists," she said. "The interview was approved by the military censor."
"I've been Mordechai Vanunu's lawyer for many years," she added. "He is out of prison, but isn't really free. It's impossible for him to live a normal life."
Vanunu denounced Shin Bet and Mossad for exacting personal revenge at him.
"Whatever I do, I get arrested," he said. "Mordechai Vanunu is a victim of ongoing harassment."
A former employee at the Dimona reactor, Vanunu was arrested in Rome by the Mossad in September of 1986, after leaking information about Israel's nuclear program to the British Sunday Times, as well as photographs he took after his dismissal from his job, several months prior.
While he was in London, he was seduced by a Mossad agent (nicknamed "Cindy"), who convinced him to go to Rome, where he was arrested by Israeli agents and secretly transported to Israel.
Vanunu served an 18-year prison sentenced and was released on April 21, 2004.
After his 18-year prison sentence came to an end, he was released on draconian parole. Over the years, he has filed a series of requests to leave Israel, give interviews, relinquish his Israeli citizenship, and more. They were all denied.
In 2010, he was imprisoned for three months after being convicted in 2007 of contacting foreign agents.
Nuclear whistleblower Mordechai Vanunu was arrested on Thursday morning, likely due to the interview he gave Channel 2 last Friday. He will be brought in front of a judge later on Thursday.
He was arrested by the Central Unit of the Jerusalem Police, in coordination with the Shin Bet, under whose strict surveillance he has been his release from prison in 2004.
As part of the conditions of his parole, he was not allowed to leave Israel for a year, required to report his movements, barred from coming near the Palestinian Authority, and more.
Adv. Yemima Abramovich, Vanunu's defense attorney, said that the interview was not a breach of his parole.
"He is allowed to talk to Israeli journalists," she said. "The interview was approved by the military censor."
"I've been Mordechai Vanunu's lawyer for many years," she added. "He is out of prison, but isn't really free. It's impossible for him to live a normal life."
Vanunu denounced Shin Bet and Mossad for exacting personal revenge at him.
"Whatever I do, I get arrested," he said. "Mordechai Vanunu is a victim of ongoing harassment."
A former employee at the Dimona reactor, Vanunu was arrested in Rome by the Mossad in September of 1986, after leaking information about Israel's nuclear program to the British Sunday Times, as well as photographs he took after his dismissal from his job, several months prior.
While he was in London, he was seduced by a Mossad agent (nicknamed "Cindy"), who convinced him to go to Rome, where he was arrested by Israeli agents and secretly transported to Israel.
Vanunu served an 18-year prison sentenced and was released on April 21, 2004.
After his 18-year prison sentence came to an end, he was released on draconian parole. Over the years, he has filed a series of requests to leave Israel, give interviews, relinquish his Israeli citizenship, and more. They were all denied.
In 2010, he was imprisoned for three months after being convicted in 2007 of contacting foreign agents.
7 sept 2015
The tent was unoccupied at the time of the attack and no one was hurt. The Shin Bet says one of the suspects, Avi Gafni, 'is a member of a Jewish terror group.'
An indictment has been served against two right-wing Jewish extremists, one of whom is a minor, for an arson attack on a Bedouin tent in the West Bank in August. The Hebrew word for "revenge" was also spray-painted near the site of the attack.
Three suspects, including two minors, were questioned over the incident. According to a gag order lifted Monday, Avi Gafni, 19, and one of the minors were indicted on charges of incitement, threats, conspiring to commit a felony, and perverting the course of justice.
The tent, located near Ramallah, was unoccupied at the time of the attack and no one was hurt. The Hebrew word for "administrative," presumably referring to the recent administrative detention of right-wing activists, and a Magen David were also spray-painted on a stone nearby.
The two teens and an adult man from the Baladim outpost, a satellite outpost of the West Bank's Kochav Hashachar settlement, were arrested and taken to a Shin Bet security services facility for questioning.
The Shin Bet said Monday that Gafni, who is originally from the southern Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, is "a violent 'hilltop' activist and a member of a Jewish terror group, which is behind attacks."
"Hilltop Youth" is a term used to refer to hardline nationalists settlers.
Gafni has been living in the Baladim outpost. He had been under administrative order to leave the West Bank a number of times "in light of information that pointed to his involvement in, and carrying out of, a number of incidents of arson against property and religious sites of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem."
At the time of the attack, Ouday Kaaba, the tent owner's son, told Haaretz, "Just last week we left the tent for a place at a nearby hill because of the heat. Fortunately for us, no one was inside the tent when it was set on fire, otherwise the whole family would have burned."
According to Kaaba, the tent housed eight people, including children. He said the incident occurred late at night, and that they only discovered the damage when they arrived at the scene in the morning. Kaaba said the family stored animal feed for their herd and a lot of property.
An indictment has been served against two right-wing Jewish extremists, one of whom is a minor, for an arson attack on a Bedouin tent in the West Bank in August. The Hebrew word for "revenge" was also spray-painted near the site of the attack.
Three suspects, including two minors, were questioned over the incident. According to a gag order lifted Monday, Avi Gafni, 19, and one of the minors were indicted on charges of incitement, threats, conspiring to commit a felony, and perverting the course of justice.
The tent, located near Ramallah, was unoccupied at the time of the attack and no one was hurt. The Hebrew word for "administrative," presumably referring to the recent administrative detention of right-wing activists, and a Magen David were also spray-painted on a stone nearby.
The two teens and an adult man from the Baladim outpost, a satellite outpost of the West Bank's Kochav Hashachar settlement, were arrested and taken to a Shin Bet security services facility for questioning.
The Shin Bet said Monday that Gafni, who is originally from the southern Israeli city of Beit Shemesh, is "a violent 'hilltop' activist and a member of a Jewish terror group, which is behind attacks."
"Hilltop Youth" is a term used to refer to hardline nationalists settlers.
Gafni has been living in the Baladim outpost. He had been under administrative order to leave the West Bank a number of times "in light of information that pointed to his involvement in, and carrying out of, a number of incidents of arson against property and religious sites of Palestinians in Judea and Samaria and Jerusalem."
At the time of the attack, Ouday Kaaba, the tent owner's son, told Haaretz, "Just last week we left the tent for a place at a nearby hill because of the heat. Fortunately for us, no one was inside the tent when it was set on fire, otherwise the whole family would have burned."
According to Kaaba, the tent housed eight people, including children. He said the incident occurred late at night, and that they only discovered the damage when they arrived at the scene in the morning. Kaaba said the family stored animal feed for their herd and a lot of property.
Smuggled shofars
Judaica importer from Jerusalem caught trying to smuggle citrons and ram's horns into Israel ahead of the High Holy Days.
Customs officers at Ben Gurion Airport have thwarted an attempt to smuggle dozens of etrogs and shofar into the country.
Customs seized over the weekend 40 etrogs (citrons) and 53 shofars (ram's horns), which managed to go unnoticed all the way from Morocco to Israel.
They were hidden in two different suitcases carried by an Israeli citizen in his 50s from Jerusalem. When the man landed in Israel, he went through the green lane - meaning he has no goods to declare. But after he was seen struggling to carry the heavy luggage, he was ordered to put his bags through the x ray scanner in the red lane.
The customs officers were shocked by what they saw. "At first we didn't understand what we were seeing - we thought it might be wooden boards," one of the officers said. "When I opened one of the suitcases I saw dozens of shofars, and in the other one there were etrogs covered in a net that's supposed to protect them." "The man was embarrassed and said he did not know he needed to report these," the customs officer went on to say. "
But after we explained the severity of his offense, he admitted to importing Judaica." Since the man tried to bring the goods into Israel without declaring them, as is required by law, in an attempt to evade paying taxes, the etrogs and shofars were confiscated until the Tax Authority makes a decision on the case. He could face criminal charges, and be made to pay a fine.
A week ago, Ben Gurion Airport customs officers thwarted a smuggling attempt of over 100 etrogs. The Tax Authority stressed that any passenger entering Israel is allowed to bring with him one etrog only, for personal use, and when he enters the country he must present the etrog to representatives of the Agriculture Ministry's Plant Protection and Inspection Services - or to a customs officer - to ensure it is not infected with pests.
If passengers want to bring in more than one etrog, they will need a special permit from the Agriculture Ministry.
Judaica importer from Jerusalem caught trying to smuggle citrons and ram's horns into Israel ahead of the High Holy Days.
Customs officers at Ben Gurion Airport have thwarted an attempt to smuggle dozens of etrogs and shofar into the country.
Customs seized over the weekend 40 etrogs (citrons) and 53 shofars (ram's horns), which managed to go unnoticed all the way from Morocco to Israel.
They were hidden in two different suitcases carried by an Israeli citizen in his 50s from Jerusalem. When the man landed in Israel, he went through the green lane - meaning he has no goods to declare. But after he was seen struggling to carry the heavy luggage, he was ordered to put his bags through the x ray scanner in the red lane.
The customs officers were shocked by what they saw. "At first we didn't understand what we were seeing - we thought it might be wooden boards," one of the officers said. "When I opened one of the suitcases I saw dozens of shofars, and in the other one there were etrogs covered in a net that's supposed to protect them." "The man was embarrassed and said he did not know he needed to report these," the customs officer went on to say. "
But after we explained the severity of his offense, he admitted to importing Judaica." Since the man tried to bring the goods into Israel without declaring them, as is required by law, in an attempt to evade paying taxes, the etrogs and shofars were confiscated until the Tax Authority makes a decision on the case. He could face criminal charges, and be made to pay a fine.
A week ago, Ben Gurion Airport customs officers thwarted a smuggling attempt of over 100 etrogs. The Tax Authority stressed that any passenger entering Israel is allowed to bring with him one etrog only, for personal use, and when he enters the country he must present the etrog to representatives of the Agriculture Ministry's Plant Protection and Inspection Services - or to a customs officer - to ensure it is not infected with pests.
If passengers want to bring in more than one etrog, they will need a special permit from the Agriculture Ministry.
Six police officers and a Border Policeman were reassigned and four other police officers were formally reprimanded for their responsibility in the Jerusalem police's failure to prevent the stabbing at the Jerusalem Pride Parade in July, it was cleared for publication on Sunday.
Yishai Shlissel, a Jewish zealot who was released from prison mere weeks before the parade after serving a 10 year term for a similar attack, stabbed six people at the parade, killing 16-year-old Shira Banki and leaving five others wounded. Acting Police Commissioner, Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau, decided to adopt the conclusions of an internal inquiry commission.
The commission's conclusions were submitted to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan last week, and were cleared for publication on Sunday.
The commander of the Police's Jerusalem District, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Edri, was reprimanded, as the commission holds him responsible for the goings on in the district. The commission noted that under Edri's command, there wasn't a clear division of responsibilities among the different sub-districts.
The commander of the Zion sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Efraim Habibian, was also reprimanded, due to the failings found in the operations of policemen in his sub-district, mostly with regards to intelligence activity.
The most senior officer to be reassigned is the commander of the Moriah sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Davidian. He is barred from promotion in the next five years, and will not serve in command positions in the future. It was in his area that the attack occurred, and the commission holds him responsible for the failings of the officers under his command.
The head of the intelligence branch in the Jerusalem District Police, Chief Supt. Doron Moshe, was also reassigned and barred from promotion to any operational or command positions in the next seven years. He is also barred from any intelligence positions in the future.
The head of the operational branch of the police's Central Unit, Chief Supt. Shai Hilleli – who tackled Shlissel, stopping the attack – was reassigned and is barred from operational positions in the next five years. The commission praised Allleli's actions in overpowering Shlissel, but in the same breath ruled he should be removed from his role because his forces were
The head of the Moriah sub-district's intelligence and detection office, Supt. Tzachi Halfon, was reassigned after he failed in fulfilling his responsibilities and some of the district commander's orders.
The Moriah sub-district's operations officer, Chief Supt. Shlomo Bachar, was reprimanded after failing in fulfilling his responsibility to adequately brief mission commanders at the parade.
The Zion sub-district's intelligence officer, Supt. Yitzhak Shamiya, was reprimanded as well.
Furthermore, the commander of Section B of the parade route, Chief Inspector Oleg Golend, was reassigned and is barred from command positions for five years.
The head of the reporting and coordination center, Supt. Doron Shalom, was reassigned and will not attend commanders' course.
A border policeman stationed at the roadblock on Washington Street was also reassigned and barred from command positions in the future.
The inquiry commission noted in its report that the police failed to properly handle intelligence alerts and threats Shlissel made to repeat his crime, which resulted in its failure to prevent him from entering the parade's area and getting to the marchers.
According to the commission's report, high ranking officers at the scene had photos of Shlissel in their possession, but the photos were not distributed to policemen and women in the field.
An additional finding in the report stated that a planned checkpoint for the street from which Shlissel entered was not established.
Furthermore, searches were not conducted according to plan. Police observers covered only the interior of the parade area, and not the surrounding streets. In short, security protocols were not fully implemented according to plan, the commission found.
The commission, headed by Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yisrael Yitzhak, submitted its initial conclusions in mid-August, but Erdan asked the commission to examine its conclusions more thoroughly.
The inquiry commission was formed by Interim Police Commissioner Sau soon after the murder to examine how Shlissel was able to commit the same crime he committed a decade prior.
Among other things, the commission examined why Shlissel was not under police surveillance, despite the fact he announced his intentions to harm the marchers at the pride parade. The commission also examined why orders from police officers, who alerted that Shlissel had been released from prison and might harm the marchers, were not conveyed to the policemen on the ground, or were not followed.
Policeman dismissed despite subduing pride parade attacker
Shai Alleli among 7 police officers reprimanded for security gaps; commission finds that law enforcement did not search surrounding area and photos of Shlissel were not given to officers in the field.
The police commander who tackled Yishai Shlissel, preventing him from continuing his stabbing spree at the Jerusalem pride parade in June, has been dismissed from his role, it was revealed Sunday.
Six police commanders and a police officer were reprimanded as result of alleged security failures that allowed attack to occur.
Among the commanders was the head of the operational branch of the police's Central Unit, Chief Supt. Shai Alleli, who was reassigned and is barred from operational positions in the next five years.
An internal inquiry commission praised Allleli's actions in overpowering Shlissel, but in the same breath ruled he should be removed from his role because his forces were responsible for identifying "suspicious individuals" at the parade and nearby.
The commission found there was a disparity between the security plan proposed by Alleli and the one that was ultimately approved. It noted that identifying suspicious individuals focused solely on the parade itself, not the surrounding area.
Alleli is likely to request a hearing from the commission in the hopes of reversing the decision.
Alleli's attorney, Gadi Tal, said the responsibility of monitoring individuals recently released from prison "for a similar act", like Shlissel, was not his client's responsibility.
Interim Police Chief Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau accepted the commission's findings and ordered their implementation.
The most senior officer to be reprimanded was the commander of the Moriah sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Davidian. He was barred from promotion in the next five years, and will not serve in command positions in the future.
According to the commission's report, high-ranking officers at the scene had photos of Shlissel in their possession, but the photos were not distributed to police in the field.
An additional finding in the report stated that a planned checkpoint for the street from which Shlissel entered was not established.
Furthermore, searches were not conducted according to plan. Police observers covered only the interior of the parade area, and not the surrounding streets. In short, security protocols were not fully implemented according to plan, the commission found.
Yishai Shlissel, a Jewish zealot who was released from prison mere weeks before the parade after serving a 10 year term for a similar attack, stabbed six people at the parade, killing 16-year-old Shira Banki and leaving five others wounded. Acting Police Commissioner, Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau, decided to adopt the conclusions of an internal inquiry commission.
The commission's conclusions were submitted to Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan last week, and were cleared for publication on Sunday.
The commander of the Police's Jerusalem District, Maj.-Gen. Moshe Edri, was reprimanded, as the commission holds him responsible for the goings on in the district. The commission noted that under Edri's command, there wasn't a clear division of responsibilities among the different sub-districts.
The commander of the Zion sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Efraim Habibian, was also reprimanded, due to the failings found in the operations of policemen in his sub-district, mostly with regards to intelligence activity.
The most senior officer to be reassigned is the commander of the Moriah sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Davidian. He is barred from promotion in the next five years, and will not serve in command positions in the future. It was in his area that the attack occurred, and the commission holds him responsible for the failings of the officers under his command.
The head of the intelligence branch in the Jerusalem District Police, Chief Supt. Doron Moshe, was also reassigned and barred from promotion to any operational or command positions in the next seven years. He is also barred from any intelligence positions in the future.
The head of the operational branch of the police's Central Unit, Chief Supt. Shai Hilleli – who tackled Shlissel, stopping the attack – was reassigned and is barred from operational positions in the next five years. The commission praised Allleli's actions in overpowering Shlissel, but in the same breath ruled he should be removed from his role because his forces were
The head of the Moriah sub-district's intelligence and detection office, Supt. Tzachi Halfon, was reassigned after he failed in fulfilling his responsibilities and some of the district commander's orders.
The Moriah sub-district's operations officer, Chief Supt. Shlomo Bachar, was reprimanded after failing in fulfilling his responsibility to adequately brief mission commanders at the parade.
The Zion sub-district's intelligence officer, Supt. Yitzhak Shamiya, was reprimanded as well.
Furthermore, the commander of Section B of the parade route, Chief Inspector Oleg Golend, was reassigned and is barred from command positions for five years.
The head of the reporting and coordination center, Supt. Doron Shalom, was reassigned and will not attend commanders' course.
A border policeman stationed at the roadblock on Washington Street was also reassigned and barred from command positions in the future.
The inquiry commission noted in its report that the police failed to properly handle intelligence alerts and threats Shlissel made to repeat his crime, which resulted in its failure to prevent him from entering the parade's area and getting to the marchers.
According to the commission's report, high ranking officers at the scene had photos of Shlissel in their possession, but the photos were not distributed to policemen and women in the field.
An additional finding in the report stated that a planned checkpoint for the street from which Shlissel entered was not established.
Furthermore, searches were not conducted according to plan. Police observers covered only the interior of the parade area, and not the surrounding streets. In short, security protocols were not fully implemented according to plan, the commission found.
The commission, headed by Maj.-Gen. (ret.) Yisrael Yitzhak, submitted its initial conclusions in mid-August, but Erdan asked the commission to examine its conclusions more thoroughly.
The inquiry commission was formed by Interim Police Commissioner Sau soon after the murder to examine how Shlissel was able to commit the same crime he committed a decade prior.
Among other things, the commission examined why Shlissel was not under police surveillance, despite the fact he announced his intentions to harm the marchers at the pride parade. The commission also examined why orders from police officers, who alerted that Shlissel had been released from prison and might harm the marchers, were not conveyed to the policemen on the ground, or were not followed.
Policeman dismissed despite subduing pride parade attacker
Shai Alleli among 7 police officers reprimanded for security gaps; commission finds that law enforcement did not search surrounding area and photos of Shlissel were not given to officers in the field.
The police commander who tackled Yishai Shlissel, preventing him from continuing his stabbing spree at the Jerusalem pride parade in June, has been dismissed from his role, it was revealed Sunday.
Six police commanders and a police officer were reprimanded as result of alleged security failures that allowed attack to occur.
Among the commanders was the head of the operational branch of the police's Central Unit, Chief Supt. Shai Alleli, who was reassigned and is barred from operational positions in the next five years.
An internal inquiry commission praised Allleli's actions in overpowering Shlissel, but in the same breath ruled he should be removed from his role because his forces were responsible for identifying "suspicious individuals" at the parade and nearby.
The commission found there was a disparity between the security plan proposed by Alleli and the one that was ultimately approved. It noted that identifying suspicious individuals focused solely on the parade itself, not the surrounding area.
Alleli is likely to request a hearing from the commission in the hopes of reversing the decision.
Alleli's attorney, Gadi Tal, said the responsibility of monitoring individuals recently released from prison "for a similar act", like Shlissel, was not his client's responsibility.
Interim Police Chief Maj.-Gen. Benzi Sau accepted the commission's findings and ordered their implementation.
The most senior officer to be reprimanded was the commander of the Moriah sub-district, Brig.-Gen. Kobi Davidian. He was barred from promotion in the next five years, and will not serve in command positions in the future.
According to the commission's report, high-ranking officers at the scene had photos of Shlissel in their possession, but the photos were not distributed to police in the field.
An additional finding in the report stated that a planned checkpoint for the street from which Shlissel entered was not established.
Furthermore, searches were not conducted according to plan. Police observers covered only the interior of the parade area, and not the surrounding streets. In short, security protocols were not fully implemented according to plan, the commission found.
3 sept 2015
Israeli military police, Wednesday night, arrested an Israeli soldier who was accused of assaulting and breaking the nose of a Palestinian prisoner that had been handcuffed and blindfolded at the time, Israeli media reported.
According to the Hebrew language Israeli news site Walla, an Israeli soldier from the Shimshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade was arrested for allegedly attacking and breaking the nose of a Palestinian prisoner who was handcuffed and blindfolded.
The prisoner was taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment, according to Ma'an.
Israeli news site Haaretz additionally reported that the Palestinian victim was one of 18 people detained overnight Tuesday and is from the el-Arrub refugee camp in the northern Hebron district. Walla news site added that the leader of the Kfir brigade said the soldier in question would be suspended until a military police investigation was completed.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Shimshon Battalion visited Hadassah Hospital to check up on the health condition of the Palestinian prisoner.
After he received treatment, the Palestinian prisoner was transferred to an Israel intelligence site for questioning.
Haaretz quoted the Israeli army as saying: "The incident is serious and not in keeping with the IDF's values."
"A military police investigation has been opened and its results will be forwarded to the military prosecutor."
Palestinian prisoners frequently report violent Israeli practices inside prison facilities. According to human rights group Addameer, the forms of ill treatment used against Palestinian prisoners include "beatings, tying prisoners in 'stress positions', interrogation sessions that last up to 12 consecutive hours, depriving prisoners of sleep and other sensory deprivation, isolation and solitary confinement, and threats against the lives of their relatives."
Addameer adds: "In past instances, detainees have died while in custody as a result of torture," noting that such practices are in contravention of international law.
The Palestinian Authority Prisoners' Affairs Committee reported in January that Palestinian children in Israeli jails are also often subjected to torture and physical abuse.
According to the Hebrew language Israeli news site Walla, an Israeli soldier from the Shimshon Battalion of the Kfir Brigade was arrested for allegedly attacking and breaking the nose of a Palestinian prisoner who was handcuffed and blindfolded.
The prisoner was taken to Hadassah Hospital for treatment, according to Ma'an.
Israeli news site Haaretz additionally reported that the Palestinian victim was one of 18 people detained overnight Tuesday and is from the el-Arrub refugee camp in the northern Hebron district. Walla news site added that the leader of the Kfir brigade said the soldier in question would be suspended until a military police investigation was completed.
Meanwhile, the leader of the Shimshon Battalion visited Hadassah Hospital to check up on the health condition of the Palestinian prisoner.
After he received treatment, the Palestinian prisoner was transferred to an Israel intelligence site for questioning.
Haaretz quoted the Israeli army as saying: "The incident is serious and not in keeping with the IDF's values."
"A military police investigation has been opened and its results will be forwarded to the military prosecutor."
Palestinian prisoners frequently report violent Israeli practices inside prison facilities. According to human rights group Addameer, the forms of ill treatment used against Palestinian prisoners include "beatings, tying prisoners in 'stress positions', interrogation sessions that last up to 12 consecutive hours, depriving prisoners of sleep and other sensory deprivation, isolation and solitary confinement, and threats against the lives of their relatives."
Addameer adds: "In past instances, detainees have died while in custody as a result of torture," noting that such practices are in contravention of international law.
The Palestinian Authority Prisoners' Affairs Committee reported in January that Palestinian children in Israeli jails are also often subjected to torture and physical abuse.
1 sept 2015
Investigation into 2014 incident leads Israeli police to conclusion that now MK Oren Hazan broke the law, assaulted Ariel city manager.
Israeli police recommended bringing criminal charges against MK Oren Hazan (Likud) Tuesday, for assaulting a civil servant and public misconduct.
The recommendation came as police finished investigations into an incident that took place in October 2014 during which Hazan allegedly assaulted the city manager of Ariel at City Hall during an argument that erupted between the two regarding Hazan's debt to the municipality.
Hazan was not an MK at the time of the incident. Investigations were launched after leaders in Ariel's City Hall decided to press charges. Hazan was later elected to the Knesset.
The investigation's findings will be transferred to the State Prosecutor's Office in the coming days for review and a final decision on how to proceed.
Israeli police recommended bringing criminal charges against MK Oren Hazan (Likud) Tuesday, for assaulting a civil servant and public misconduct.
The recommendation came as police finished investigations into an incident that took place in October 2014 during which Hazan allegedly assaulted the city manager of Ariel at City Hall during an argument that erupted between the two regarding Hazan's debt to the municipality.
Hazan was not an MK at the time of the incident. Investigations were launched after leaders in Ariel's City Hall decided to press charges. Hazan was later elected to the Knesset.
The investigation's findings will be transferred to the State Prosecutor's Office in the coming days for review and a final decision on how to proceed.
30 aug 2015
Radical activist Meyer Ettinger
A new education ministry program aims to rehabilitate hilltop youth while preventing the next attack; however, the program has experienced very little success.
The Israeli government initiative has a soothing biblical name, the Hebrew Shepherd, and a serious aim: to keep ultranationalist Jewish settler youths from turning to violence and attacking Palestinians and their property.
But the program - which included plans for a summer camp and carpentry courses to keep the kids out of trouble - has foundered. Many settler youths have refused to cooperate after rumors spread that Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, which snoops on Jewish extremists, was involved.
It is but one example of Israel's failure to rein in youths suspected of carrying out ultranationalist attacks. The deadliest such assault, a firebombing last month on a West Bank home, killed an 18-month-old toddler, Ali Dawabsheh, and his father, Saed, and critically wounded his mother and 4-year-old brother. A Star of David and "revenge" in Hebrew were sprayed on the torched home. In the wake of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged "zero tolerance" for what he called Jewish terrorism.
But there has been complicit tolerance of the phenomenon for years, say Palestinian leaders, former Israeli security officials and even some settlers. They blame holes in Israel's juvenile welfare system, lax law enforcement, a lenient justice system and rabbis and Israeli leaders unwilling or unable to tackle the elusive young fundamentalists. A main focus of the concern is the so-called "hilltop youth," young people among a settler movement that sets up outposts not authorized by the Israeli government on West Bank hilltops - land the Palestinians claim for their hoped for state.
"There is no serious adult, no individual today who says, 'I am the person who will take responsibility,'" said Avia Azulay, 35, a hilltop settler, speaking from his spacious home in the unauthorized West Bank outpost of Shir Hadash. A youth counselor and former hilltop youth himself, Azulay joined the Hebrew Shepherd program a year ago to try to help keep young extremists from the brink of violence, but resigned because he thought the Shin Bet's alleged involvement undermined the young people's trust.
After last month's firebombing, Israel carried out arrest raids of hilltop outposts and jailed three Israeli settler activists in their early 20s for six months without charge, a measure used regularly against Palestinian detainees but rarely on Israelis. Israel has not yet found the culprits of the deadly attack.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem said despite the recent crackdown, Israel is unwilling to prosecute settlers suspected of crimes against Palestinians. In the past three years, the group said, Israeli civilians set fire to nine Palestinian homes in the West Bank and hurled a firebomb at a Palestinian taxi, but no one was charged.
"The government has created a climate of impunity with settlers," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said less than 10 percent of police investigations into alleged Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians and their property from 2005-2014 resulted in indictments.
Israeli police defend their efforts to combat Israeli attacks against Palestinians, and say there has been a big jump in arrests and indictments since a special "nationalistic crimes" unit was created in 2013, though they declined to provide precise numbers.
Critics say influential settler rabbis have done little to publicly denounce the violent youths, and that Israeli leaders have embraced settler activists who support them. Netanyahu himself appeared in an election rally this year co-organized by hilltop youth supporter Daniella Weiss. Recent arrests of young settler activists offer a peek into what the Shin Bet says is a fringe group suspected of arson attacks on Palestinian property in order to bring about religious "redemption."
One suspect, Moshe Orbach, is accused of writing a detailed instruction manual on how to set fire to mosques, churches and Palestinian homes. Entitled "Kingdom of Evil," it instructs activists to form underground cells committed to "sanctifying God's name" - and with members who know how "to keep silent in interrogations."
The other two are Meir Ettinger, the 23-year-old grandson of the late Jewish ultranationalist Meir Kahane, whom the Shin Bet calls the ringleader of the group, and Eviatar Slonim, an activist in the hilltop settlements. All three have been jailed without charge for six months, accused of affiliation with an extremist Jewish organization, an accusation they deny. Their so-called administrative detention is a tactic usually reserved for suspected Palestinian militants.
The Hebrew Shepherd initiative once set its sights on Ettinger as part of its efforts to encourage hilltop youth to learn a vocation, according to the settler website Hakol Hayehudi. Speaking to the website, Ettinger said, "During the first meeting with the workers from the program, I noticed how all their efforts were focused on career and money.
This is fundamentally opposed to our values as Jews who work for the sake of the people of Israel." Menachem Ben Shachar, 38, a relative of Ettinger, said the outreach effort has been unsuccessful because it doesn't address the youth's anger with what they see as Israel's ineffective responses to Palestinian attacks.
"Every time Israel fails in its real mission - defending the people of Israel - it creates a few more frustrated youths. There is no organization that can come afterward and try to extinguish the burning flame in the hearts of these youths," Ben Shachar said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.
Israel's Education Ministry says it spearheaded the Hebrew Shepherd initiative in 2013 to "offer an educational-welfare rehabilitative response to young at-risk boys and girls" in the West Bank settlement areas "as part of systemic efforts to eradicate the phenomenon of nationalist crime," according to a ministry document leaked to Israeli media. In the document, the ministry's director general asked the Shin Bet and other government bodies to participate in the program's steering committee.
Hebrew Shepherd director Roee Simon declined a request for an interview, as did the Shin Bet. The Education Ministry also refused to comment despite repeated requests. Although he left the program, Azulay says he still tries to engage hilltop youth. Three nights a week, the burly man with a bushy black beard packs his dusty red sedan with snacks and heads to the hills to meet with them.
His background as a former hilltop youth, along with his firm handshake and contemporary Hebrew slang, give him credibility. Azulay said the majority of the approximately 1,000 hilltop youth are middle-school and high-school dropouts ranging in age from 14 to 20 from cities within Israel, not the West Bank. Adverse to authority, they are drawn to the defiant spirit of the isolated West Bank hilltops.
Squatting on West Bank land to claim it as Jewish, they are furious with Israel's response to Palestinian attacks, Azulay said, leading some to take vigilante action against their Palestinian neighbors. When the time comes for compulsory military service - their ticket into mainstream Israeli society - the army rejects them as too dangerous. Because social workers from one municipal area are not permitted to handle youth from another area, runaways in the West Bank fall through the cracks of the welfare system, Azulay said. He said settler rabbis are afraid to take them under their wing for fear of being accused of backing the violence.
Azulay said he tries to persuade the teens to stay away from vigilante violence so they don't ruin their chances of enlisting into the army. "Go be a pilot, drop a half-ton bomb on a group of terrorists," he said he tells the youths. Another program piloted by a local settler council tries to rehabilitate hilltop youths by helping them pass matriculation exams and persuading the army to enlist them. It has shown some success at one hilltop outpost and is being expanded to another settlement.
An official in the Israeli prime minister's office said in the last five years, Israel beefed up its intelligence, police and law enforcement resources to deal with Jewish extremism. "We are augmenting our efforts because we see this as a challenge to our democracy," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. But former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin said political will and public pressure are lacking in the battle to uproot Jewish extremism.
"Violent extremism is a social phenomenon with deep roots. Whoever thinks the Shin Bet, the military or the police can deal with it is mistaken," he wrote on his Facebook page.
A new education ministry program aims to rehabilitate hilltop youth while preventing the next attack; however, the program has experienced very little success.
The Israeli government initiative has a soothing biblical name, the Hebrew Shepherd, and a serious aim: to keep ultranationalist Jewish settler youths from turning to violence and attacking Palestinians and their property.
But the program - which included plans for a summer camp and carpentry courses to keep the kids out of trouble - has foundered. Many settler youths have refused to cooperate after rumors spread that Israel's domestic security agency, Shin Bet, which snoops on Jewish extremists, was involved.
It is but one example of Israel's failure to rein in youths suspected of carrying out ultranationalist attacks. The deadliest such assault, a firebombing last month on a West Bank home, killed an 18-month-old toddler, Ali Dawabsheh, and his father, Saed, and critically wounded his mother and 4-year-old brother. A Star of David and "revenge" in Hebrew were sprayed on the torched home. In the wake of the attack, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pledged "zero tolerance" for what he called Jewish terrorism.
But there has been complicit tolerance of the phenomenon for years, say Palestinian leaders, former Israeli security officials and even some settlers. They blame holes in Israel's juvenile welfare system, lax law enforcement, a lenient justice system and rabbis and Israeli leaders unwilling or unable to tackle the elusive young fundamentalists. A main focus of the concern is the so-called "hilltop youth," young people among a settler movement that sets up outposts not authorized by the Israeli government on West Bank hilltops - land the Palestinians claim for their hoped for state.
"There is no serious adult, no individual today who says, 'I am the person who will take responsibility,'" said Avia Azulay, 35, a hilltop settler, speaking from his spacious home in the unauthorized West Bank outpost of Shir Hadash. A youth counselor and former hilltop youth himself, Azulay joined the Hebrew Shepherd program a year ago to try to help keep young extremists from the brink of violence, but resigned because he thought the Shin Bet's alleged involvement undermined the young people's trust.
After last month's firebombing, Israel carried out arrest raids of hilltop outposts and jailed three Israeli settler activists in their early 20s for six months without charge, a measure used regularly against Palestinian detainees but rarely on Israelis. Israel has not yet found the culprits of the deadly attack.
The Israeli rights group B'Tselem said despite the recent crackdown, Israel is unwilling to prosecute settlers suspected of crimes against Palestinians. In the past three years, the group said, Israeli civilians set fire to nine Palestinian homes in the West Bank and hurled a firebomb at a Palestinian taxi, but no one was charged.
"The government has created a climate of impunity with settlers," said Sarit Michaeli of B'Tselem. Israeli human rights group Yesh Din said less than 10 percent of police investigations into alleged Israeli crimes committed against Palestinians and their property from 2005-2014 resulted in indictments.
Israeli police defend their efforts to combat Israeli attacks against Palestinians, and say there has been a big jump in arrests and indictments since a special "nationalistic crimes" unit was created in 2013, though they declined to provide precise numbers.
Critics say influential settler rabbis have done little to publicly denounce the violent youths, and that Israeli leaders have embraced settler activists who support them. Netanyahu himself appeared in an election rally this year co-organized by hilltop youth supporter Daniella Weiss. Recent arrests of young settler activists offer a peek into what the Shin Bet says is a fringe group suspected of arson attacks on Palestinian property in order to bring about religious "redemption."
One suspect, Moshe Orbach, is accused of writing a detailed instruction manual on how to set fire to mosques, churches and Palestinian homes. Entitled "Kingdom of Evil," it instructs activists to form underground cells committed to "sanctifying God's name" - and with members who know how "to keep silent in interrogations."
The other two are Meir Ettinger, the 23-year-old grandson of the late Jewish ultranationalist Meir Kahane, whom the Shin Bet calls the ringleader of the group, and Eviatar Slonim, an activist in the hilltop settlements. All three have been jailed without charge for six months, accused of affiliation with an extremist Jewish organization, an accusation they deny. Their so-called administrative detention is a tactic usually reserved for suspected Palestinian militants.
The Hebrew Shepherd initiative once set its sights on Ettinger as part of its efforts to encourage hilltop youth to learn a vocation, according to the settler website Hakol Hayehudi. Speaking to the website, Ettinger said, "During the first meeting with the workers from the program, I noticed how all their efforts were focused on career and money.
This is fundamentally opposed to our values as Jews who work for the sake of the people of Israel." Menachem Ben Shachar, 38, a relative of Ettinger, said the outreach effort has been unsuccessful because it doesn't address the youth's anger with what they see as Israel's ineffective responses to Palestinian attacks.
"Every time Israel fails in its real mission - defending the people of Israel - it creates a few more frustrated youths. There is no organization that can come afterward and try to extinguish the burning flame in the hearts of these youths," Ben Shachar said in an email exchange with The Associated Press.
Israel's Education Ministry says it spearheaded the Hebrew Shepherd initiative in 2013 to "offer an educational-welfare rehabilitative response to young at-risk boys and girls" in the West Bank settlement areas "as part of systemic efforts to eradicate the phenomenon of nationalist crime," according to a ministry document leaked to Israeli media. In the document, the ministry's director general asked the Shin Bet and other government bodies to participate in the program's steering committee.
Hebrew Shepherd director Roee Simon declined a request for an interview, as did the Shin Bet. The Education Ministry also refused to comment despite repeated requests. Although he left the program, Azulay says he still tries to engage hilltop youth. Three nights a week, the burly man with a bushy black beard packs his dusty red sedan with snacks and heads to the hills to meet with them.
His background as a former hilltop youth, along with his firm handshake and contemporary Hebrew slang, give him credibility. Azulay said the majority of the approximately 1,000 hilltop youth are middle-school and high-school dropouts ranging in age from 14 to 20 from cities within Israel, not the West Bank. Adverse to authority, they are drawn to the defiant spirit of the isolated West Bank hilltops.
Squatting on West Bank land to claim it as Jewish, they are furious with Israel's response to Palestinian attacks, Azulay said, leading some to take vigilante action against their Palestinian neighbors. When the time comes for compulsory military service - their ticket into mainstream Israeli society - the army rejects them as too dangerous. Because social workers from one municipal area are not permitted to handle youth from another area, runaways in the West Bank fall through the cracks of the welfare system, Azulay said. He said settler rabbis are afraid to take them under their wing for fear of being accused of backing the violence.
Azulay said he tries to persuade the teens to stay away from vigilante violence so they don't ruin their chances of enlisting into the army. "Go be a pilot, drop a half-ton bomb on a group of terrorists," he said he tells the youths. Another program piloted by a local settler council tries to rehabilitate hilltop youths by helping them pass matriculation exams and persuading the army to enlist them. It has shown some success at one hilltop outpost and is being expanded to another settlement.
An official in the Israeli prime minister's office said in the last five years, Israel beefed up its intelligence, police and law enforcement resources to deal with Jewish extremism. "We are augmenting our efforts because we see this as a challenge to our democracy," said the official, who spoke on the condition of anonymity because he was not authorized to discuss the matter publicly. But former Shin Bet director Yuval Diskin said political will and public pressure are lacking in the battle to uproot Jewish extremism.
"Violent extremism is a social phenomenon with deep roots. Whoever thinks the Shin Bet, the military or the police can deal with it is mistaken," he wrote on his Facebook page.
29 aug 2015
Israeli media reports that foreign country demanded official judicial inquiry against appointed police commissioner, while FBI is said to be investigating companies Hirsch is affiliated with.
The appointment of Brig.-Gen.(res.) Gal Hirsch as police commissioner is facing further obstacles amid reports on Friday that there are ongoing criminal investigations against him in Georgia and Kazakhstan, where he was allegedly involved in money laundering as part of arms deals.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is already investigating allegations of money laundering in two security-related business deals that a company Hirsch headed made with both countries in 2008. A report on Friday night on Channel 10 claimed that one of these countries turned to Israel and requested that it opens an official judicial inquiry against Hirsch.
That country reportedly sent Israel a detailed document of suspicions against the nominated police chief, his involvement in these arms deals and the alleged ties he has with former politicians. According to Channel 10, a special Justice Ministry team will meet to discuss the complaint issued the aforementioned foreign nation, as well as another complaint filed to the police's Lahav 433 Unit (tasked with investigating national crimes and corruption) against Hirsch.
Meanwhile, Channel 2 reported that there has been an ongoing FBI-led investigation against companies Hirsch has been affiliated with since 2013. This investigation reportedly includes other countries, in addition to the US and Israel. A certain development was said to be made in the investigation two months ago, but no suspects have been questioned as of yet.
After Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced that he chose Hirsch to serve as Israel's police commissioner, the attorney general ordered the head of the police investigations unit to stop its probe into Hirsch and transfer all investigation materials to him. However, at present there is reportedly nothing that directly ties Hirsch to the suspicions.
Hirsch's attorney told Channel 2 in response: "This is another imaginary claim in a desperate attempt to slander the appointed commissioner. The company never provided any services in the US. The only thing it did was acquire equipment with permits and the approval of a private company.
All of these activities cannot bring or lead to any investigation of the FBI." If Hirsch's nomination is approved, he will have to go through a painstaking review of his business deals, as well as signing a conflict of interest clause which would completely disengage him and his associates from the aforementioned security dealings and profits.
The attorney general aims to present his opinion to the government prior to a vote on Hirsch's appointment, the bottom line being whether it will be possible to defend Hirsch in the event of a petition to the Supreme Court, or if the appointment raises significant legal difficulties. An official within the Ministry of Public Security estimated that Weinstein ultimately will not invalidate the appointment.
The attorney general's opinion will focus on a number of aspects including whether the nomination process was done according to the rules; whether Hirsch engaged in illegal conduct during his lifetime, in acquiring his wealth, and in his IDF service; and whether he broke the law in his private business dealings.
The appointment of Brig.-Gen.(res.) Gal Hirsch as police commissioner is facing further obstacles amid reports on Friday that there are ongoing criminal investigations against him in Georgia and Kazakhstan, where he was allegedly involved in money laundering as part of arms deals.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is already investigating allegations of money laundering in two security-related business deals that a company Hirsch headed made with both countries in 2008. A report on Friday night on Channel 10 claimed that one of these countries turned to Israel and requested that it opens an official judicial inquiry against Hirsch.
That country reportedly sent Israel a detailed document of suspicions against the nominated police chief, his involvement in these arms deals and the alleged ties he has with former politicians. According to Channel 10, a special Justice Ministry team will meet to discuss the complaint issued the aforementioned foreign nation, as well as another complaint filed to the police's Lahav 433 Unit (tasked with investigating national crimes and corruption) against Hirsch.
Meanwhile, Channel 2 reported that there has been an ongoing FBI-led investigation against companies Hirsch has been affiliated with since 2013. This investigation reportedly includes other countries, in addition to the US and Israel. A certain development was said to be made in the investigation two months ago, but no suspects have been questioned as of yet.
After Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan announced that he chose Hirsch to serve as Israel's police commissioner, the attorney general ordered the head of the police investigations unit to stop its probe into Hirsch and transfer all investigation materials to him. However, at present there is reportedly nothing that directly ties Hirsch to the suspicions.
Hirsch's attorney told Channel 2 in response: "This is another imaginary claim in a desperate attempt to slander the appointed commissioner. The company never provided any services in the US. The only thing it did was acquire equipment with permits and the approval of a private company.
All of these activities cannot bring or lead to any investigation of the FBI." If Hirsch's nomination is approved, he will have to go through a painstaking review of his business deals, as well as signing a conflict of interest clause which would completely disengage him and his associates from the aforementioned security dealings and profits.
The attorney general aims to present his opinion to the government prior to a vote on Hirsch's appointment, the bottom line being whether it will be possible to defend Hirsch in the event of a petition to the Supreme Court, or if the appointment raises significant legal difficulties. An official within the Ministry of Public Security estimated that Weinstein ultimately will not invalidate the appointment.
The attorney general's opinion will focus on a number of aspects including whether the nomination process was done according to the rules; whether Hirsch engaged in illegal conduct during his lifetime, in acquiring his wealth, and in his IDF service; and whether he broke the law in his private business dealings.
28 aug 2015
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein (right) and Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has received information regarding police chief nominee's possible dubious security-related business dealings with Kazakhstan and Georgia, which may serve the case for invalidation of his nomination.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is examining information received by police regarding Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, recently nominated as Israel police chief, and the possibility that Hirsch broke the law by engaging in money laundering.
Weinstein's office received the police complaints last night about two security-related business deals that a company that Hirsch headed made with Kazakhstan and Georgia. In 2008 Israel passed a law prohibiting bribery of any public servants in the whole world during business transactions, primarily security industry-related transactions.
A high-level police official said yesterday, "We are aware that in security-related deals in the Third World there are deviations from western norms. Obviously if Hirsch deviated he cannot serve as police chief."
The Police Investigations and Intelligence Division had received information and complaints regarding foreign arms deals in which Hirsch was involved in 2008. The information has yet to be verified.
Major General Menachem Yitzhaki, head of the police investigations and intelligence division, updated the attorney general upon the announcement of Hirsch's nomination. However, police sources have emphasized that caution must be practiced with regard to the information as at least a part of it comes from interested parties.
If the nomination is approved, Hirsch will have to go through a painstaking review of his business deals, as well as signing a conflict of interest clause which would completely disengage him and his associates from the aforementioned security dealings and profits.
The Attorney General aims to present an opinion to the government prior to a vote on Hirsch's appointment, the bottom line being whether it will be possible to defend Hirsch in the event of a petition to the High Court of Justice, or if the appointment raises significant legal difficulties. An official within the Ministry of Public Security estimated that Weinstein ultimately will not invalidate the appointment.
The attorney general's opinion will focus on a number of levels including whether the nomination process was done according to the rules; if Hirsch engaged in illegal conduct during his lifetime, in acquiring his wealth, and in his IDF service; and whether he broke the law in his private business dealings.
The documents and information on Hirsch's private business include information provided by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, which contain an overview of his activities as the Galilee Division Commander during the Second Lebanon War.
As commander of the Galilee Division, he was held responsible for the event that sparked the fighting - the abduction of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. After the war, the commission of inquiry headed by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog established that Hirsch was responsible for several failures that allowed Hezbollah to carry out their ambush plan on the Lebanese border.
In light of what was defined as "a professional, profound and fundamental failure on the command level," Almog recommended to discontinue Hirsch's command position and to not promote him in the IDF, and his conclusions were adopted.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has received information regarding police chief nominee's possible dubious security-related business dealings with Kazakhstan and Georgia, which may serve the case for invalidation of his nomination.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is examining information received by police regarding Brig. Gen. (Res.) Gal Hirsch, recently nominated as Israel police chief, and the possibility that Hirsch broke the law by engaging in money laundering.
Weinstein's office received the police complaints last night about two security-related business deals that a company that Hirsch headed made with Kazakhstan and Georgia. In 2008 Israel passed a law prohibiting bribery of any public servants in the whole world during business transactions, primarily security industry-related transactions.
A high-level police official said yesterday, "We are aware that in security-related deals in the Third World there are deviations from western norms. Obviously if Hirsch deviated he cannot serve as police chief."
The Police Investigations and Intelligence Division had received information and complaints regarding foreign arms deals in which Hirsch was involved in 2008. The information has yet to be verified.
Major General Menachem Yitzhaki, head of the police investigations and intelligence division, updated the attorney general upon the announcement of Hirsch's nomination. However, police sources have emphasized that caution must be practiced with regard to the information as at least a part of it comes from interested parties.
If the nomination is approved, Hirsch will have to go through a painstaking review of his business deals, as well as signing a conflict of interest clause which would completely disengage him and his associates from the aforementioned security dealings and profits.
The Attorney General aims to present an opinion to the government prior to a vote on Hirsch's appointment, the bottom line being whether it will be possible to defend Hirsch in the event of a petition to the High Court of Justice, or if the appointment raises significant legal difficulties. An official within the Ministry of Public Security estimated that Weinstein ultimately will not invalidate the appointment.
The attorney general's opinion will focus on a number of levels including whether the nomination process was done according to the rules; if Hirsch engaged in illegal conduct during his lifetime, in acquiring his wealth, and in his IDF service; and whether he broke the law in his private business dealings.
The documents and information on Hirsch's private business include information provided by Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan, which contain an overview of his activities as the Galilee Division Commander during the Second Lebanon War.
As commander of the Galilee Division, he was held responsible for the event that sparked the fighting - the abduction of reservists Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev. After the war, the commission of inquiry headed by Maj.-Gen. (res.) Doron Almog established that Hirsch was responsible for several failures that allowed Hezbollah to carry out their ambush plan on the Lebanese border.
In light of what was defined as "a professional, profound and fundamental failure on the command level," Almog recommended to discontinue Hirsch's command position and to not promote him in the IDF, and his conclusions were adopted.
