11 june 2020
The two Maccabi T.A. players claim the 15-year-old girls told them they were both 18, said to have correspondence supporting this; Police launch formal investigation
Police have launched an investigation into a serious sex-related allegation regarding two prominent Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club players, who, according to the claim, had sex with a pair of underage high school students.
The players allegedly met the two girls - who are believed to be 15 years old - at a birthday party of another soccer player and invited them back to the apartment of one of the players.
Other soccer players also attended the party, and in the event of a formal police investigation, it is likely they will be interviewed as part of efforts to piece together the events of the night.
An exchange of text messages between the minors and the players allegedly reveals the existence of a sexual connection, but a formal investigation will likely try to focus on two things - evidence of sexual contact and whether the players knew the true ages of the two girls.
At the end of the initial process, which is being conducted by the head of investigations, David Buani, a report will be submitted to Yigal Ben-Shalom, the chief of Lahav 443 crimes unit, who will decide whether the formal investigation is warranted.
In a statement Thursday, the police said it has launched an inquiry “regarding recent reports” about the incident but said they would not elaborate further.
Meanwhile, the two players have gone underground and did not respond to inquiries. But friends of the two claim that the pair have correspondence with the minors, in which they claimed to be 18 years old.
According to the players’ friends, the two didn't know the girls were minors, claiming the girls “told us otherwise.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv said in a statement: "The club is aware of the media publications and is monitoring the developments. We will not respond beyond this at this time. "
According to a news report, the case was brought to the attention of Maccabi Tel Aviv by representatives from the school attended by the two girls.
"It was difficult for us to hear about such things. An underage girl involved with adults sounds crazy to us, but they didn't want to make a police complaint,” said a close associate of the two girls.
It was apparently not the two girls themselves who submitted the complaint to the school administration, but their friends.
Police have launched an investigation into a serious sex-related allegation regarding two prominent Maccabi Tel Aviv Football Club players, who, according to the claim, had sex with a pair of underage high school students.
The players allegedly met the two girls - who are believed to be 15 years old - at a birthday party of another soccer player and invited them back to the apartment of one of the players.
Other soccer players also attended the party, and in the event of a formal police investigation, it is likely they will be interviewed as part of efforts to piece together the events of the night.
An exchange of text messages between the minors and the players allegedly reveals the existence of a sexual connection, but a formal investigation will likely try to focus on two things - evidence of sexual contact and whether the players knew the true ages of the two girls.
At the end of the initial process, which is being conducted by the head of investigations, David Buani, a report will be submitted to Yigal Ben-Shalom, the chief of Lahav 443 crimes unit, who will decide whether the formal investigation is warranted.
In a statement Thursday, the police said it has launched an inquiry “regarding recent reports” about the incident but said they would not elaborate further.
Meanwhile, the two players have gone underground and did not respond to inquiries. But friends of the two claim that the pair have correspondence with the minors, in which they claimed to be 18 years old.
According to the players’ friends, the two didn't know the girls were minors, claiming the girls “told us otherwise.”
Maccabi Tel Aviv said in a statement: "The club is aware of the media publications and is monitoring the developments. We will not respond beyond this at this time. "
According to a news report, the case was brought to the attention of Maccabi Tel Aviv by representatives from the school attended by the two girls.
"It was difficult for us to hear about such things. An underage girl involved with adults sounds crazy to us, but they didn't want to make a police complaint,” said a close associate of the two girls.
It was apparently not the two girls themselves who submitted the complaint to the school administration, but their friends.
9 june 2020
MK from joint list disrupts the proceeding, saying 'your husband burned a family' to the wife of Amiram Ben-Uliel, convicted of killing Saad and Riham Dawabsha and their 18-months-old baby in an arson attack in 2015
A shouting match erupted Tuesday during a court hearing meant to determine the punishment for a Jewish extremist, convicted of killing three members of a Palestinian family by throwing a firebomb into their home five years ago.
Settler Amiram Ben-Uliel, 26, was found guilty a month ago of the racially motivated murder of the Dawabsha family in July of 2015 that killed parents, Saad and Riham and their 18-months-old baby Ali in the Palestinian village of Duma in the West Bank.
During a hearing in the Lod District Court on Tuesday afternoon, MKs from the predominantly Arab Joint List party interrupted the proceedings, when the party's leader began accusing the defendant's wife. "Your husband burned a family, he has to rot in prison," Ahmad Tibi shouted.
"The defendant committed an act of revenge. He did not know Saad, Riham or Ali," said Attorney Yael Atzmon from the State Attorney’s Office. "The decision to kill them was made only because they were Arabs.”
“For the three murders, the defendant will be sentenced to life imprisonment in accordance with the law,” added Atzmon, “we will ask the court to impose the sentence of life imprisonment and order compensation to those affected by the crime."
The Office of the State Attorney seeks to sentence Ben-Uliel to three cumulative life sentences, in addition to 40 years in prison for other offenses of which he was convicted, such as attempted murder of family members who survived the arson attack. He was acquitted of a charge of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Ben-Uliel's attorney, Asher Ohayon, said they intend to appeal the sentencing to the Supreme Court.
"There is no Jew who is not shocked by this. No one was giving out candy after it happened," he said, referring to instances when Palestinians distribute sweets after attacks on Israelis.
Hussein Dawabsha, the grandfather of the toddler who was killed, also testified in court. ”My girl built a house that was burned down. She herself had been burned almost entirely, what father could bear it?" he said.
I sat with Ahmed for six months in the hospital and every day he asked to see his parents," he added, referring to the couple's other child, who survivied.
The grandfather wanted to extend his gratitude to the doctors who cared for the wounded family members: "Some [doctors] were Jewish, they did everything they could."
Nasser, Saad’s brother, also gave his testimony during the hearing, saying since the incident the whole family lives in fear of a revenge attack from other Jewish extremists.
“We live in fear, imprisoned in our homes like dogs," he said. "We barricade our windows with metal bars, like in prison, and go to the bathroom together. We suffer greatly, we have lost three souls. Our family has been burned thrice,” he added.
“I speak on my behalf, on behalf of my family and the entire Palestinian nation. We oppose this happening to anyone in the world, we are people who spread love and oppose terror. "
In January 2016, the Central District Attorney's Office indicted Ben-Uliel along with a minor, who was 17 years old at the time and whose name is under strict gag order, on charges of attempted murder.
The minor in the case had already reached a plea bargain, when he admitted to be involved in the conspiracy to carry out the attack (which he did not actually commit) and was determined to be a member of a terrorist organization.
The state will seek a five-and-a-half year prison sentence, while the minor’s defense attorneys plan to ask for a lighter punishment.
According to the indictment, the two wanted revenge against Arabs following the drive-by shooting of Malachy Rosenfeld days earlier. The two agreed to carry out an attack in Duma and another Arab village, with the intention of killing Arabs.
On July 31, the two agreed to meet in a nearby enclave. When the minor failed to show up, Ben-Uliel decided to carry out the attack alone. He arrived in the village of Duma, threw a Molotov cocktail into one house, and then headed to the Dawabsha family home and repeated the act.
Ben-Uliel soon fled the scene as the fire from his molotov cocktail started to spread and engulf the home of the Dawabsha family.
The fire gripped all four members of the family who were present in the house. The parents and the boy Ahmed managed to flee the house, while baby Ali remained in his crib and did not survive the fire.
Neighbors who arrived at the scene evacuated Ahmed, Saad and Riham to the hospital in serious condition.
Saad died of his wounds eight days later, while Riham succumbed to her wounds a month after the incident.
A shouting match erupted Tuesday during a court hearing meant to determine the punishment for a Jewish extremist, convicted of killing three members of a Palestinian family by throwing a firebomb into their home five years ago.
Settler Amiram Ben-Uliel, 26, was found guilty a month ago of the racially motivated murder of the Dawabsha family in July of 2015 that killed parents, Saad and Riham and their 18-months-old baby Ali in the Palestinian village of Duma in the West Bank.
During a hearing in the Lod District Court on Tuesday afternoon, MKs from the predominantly Arab Joint List party interrupted the proceedings, when the party's leader began accusing the defendant's wife. "Your husband burned a family, he has to rot in prison," Ahmad Tibi shouted.
"The defendant committed an act of revenge. He did not know Saad, Riham or Ali," said Attorney Yael Atzmon from the State Attorney’s Office. "The decision to kill them was made only because they were Arabs.”
“For the three murders, the defendant will be sentenced to life imprisonment in accordance with the law,” added Atzmon, “we will ask the court to impose the sentence of life imprisonment and order compensation to those affected by the crime."
The Office of the State Attorney seeks to sentence Ben-Uliel to three cumulative life sentences, in addition to 40 years in prison for other offenses of which he was convicted, such as attempted murder of family members who survived the arson attack. He was acquitted of a charge of belonging to a terrorist organization.
Ben-Uliel's attorney, Asher Ohayon, said they intend to appeal the sentencing to the Supreme Court.
"There is no Jew who is not shocked by this. No one was giving out candy after it happened," he said, referring to instances when Palestinians distribute sweets after attacks on Israelis.
Hussein Dawabsha, the grandfather of the toddler who was killed, also testified in court. ”My girl built a house that was burned down. She herself had been burned almost entirely, what father could bear it?" he said.
I sat with Ahmed for six months in the hospital and every day he asked to see his parents," he added, referring to the couple's other child, who survivied.
The grandfather wanted to extend his gratitude to the doctors who cared for the wounded family members: "Some [doctors] were Jewish, they did everything they could."
Nasser, Saad’s brother, also gave his testimony during the hearing, saying since the incident the whole family lives in fear of a revenge attack from other Jewish extremists.
“We live in fear, imprisoned in our homes like dogs," he said. "We barricade our windows with metal bars, like in prison, and go to the bathroom together. We suffer greatly, we have lost three souls. Our family has been burned thrice,” he added.
“I speak on my behalf, on behalf of my family and the entire Palestinian nation. We oppose this happening to anyone in the world, we are people who spread love and oppose terror. "
In January 2016, the Central District Attorney's Office indicted Ben-Uliel along with a minor, who was 17 years old at the time and whose name is under strict gag order, on charges of attempted murder.
The minor in the case had already reached a plea bargain, when he admitted to be involved in the conspiracy to carry out the attack (which he did not actually commit) and was determined to be a member of a terrorist organization.
The state will seek a five-and-a-half year prison sentence, while the minor’s defense attorneys plan to ask for a lighter punishment.
According to the indictment, the two wanted revenge against Arabs following the drive-by shooting of Malachy Rosenfeld days earlier. The two agreed to carry out an attack in Duma and another Arab village, with the intention of killing Arabs.
On July 31, the two agreed to meet in a nearby enclave. When the minor failed to show up, Ben-Uliel decided to carry out the attack alone. He arrived in the village of Duma, threw a Molotov cocktail into one house, and then headed to the Dawabsha family home and repeated the act.
Ben-Uliel soon fled the scene as the fire from his molotov cocktail started to spread and engulf the home of the Dawabsha family.
The fire gripped all four members of the family who were present in the house. The parents and the boy Ahmed managed to flee the house, while baby Ali remained in his crib and did not survive the fire.
Neighbors who arrived at the scene evacuated Ahmed, Saad and Riham to the hospital in serious condition.
Saad died of his wounds eight days later, while Riham succumbed to her wounds a month after the incident.
Mother will serve a 16-month sentence for tax evasions committed by Supermodel Bar Rafaeli while her daughter will pay NIS 2.5 million fine and do community service
Bar Refaeli and her mother on Tuesday signed a plea deal with prosecutors after being charged for tax evasion in an indictment that attributed most of the to the mother, hence she bore the heavier sentence.
The two will also each have to pay a fine of NIS 2.5 million in addition to NIS 8 million in back taxes.Prosecutors said at Refaeli, 34, and her mother kept tens of millions of shekels in earnings from tax authorities.
The Israeli international model would serve nine months of community service, while her mother Tzipi Refaeli who also acted as her business manager, would be incarcerated for 16 months.
In 2017 Refaeli was arrest by the Israel Tax Authority on suspicion of having evaded taxes for the 2009-2012 period.
Officials said she had lied about living mostly abroad and failed to report on income, gifts, and celebrity discounts she had received during that time, to the Israeli tax authorities.
Rafeli claimed she didn't know anything about the efforts made to conceal her earnings during that period.
Last July, she appealed to the High Court of Justice against a lower court decision that ordered her to pay taxes on NIS 8 million for earnings abroad in 2009-2010. The appeal has been withdrawn as part of her plea agreement.
The case centered on the question of Refaeli's main place of residence.
She claimed that in 2007 she had gone to live in the U.S. to be close to her partner at the time, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio and that she was therefore not liable to pay taxes in Israel.
The Tax Authority claimed that she had defrauded the state concerning her place of residence and that throughout the period in question she had in fact been living in Israel.
Bar Refaeli and her mother on Tuesday signed a plea deal with prosecutors after being charged for tax evasion in an indictment that attributed most of the to the mother, hence she bore the heavier sentence.
The two will also each have to pay a fine of NIS 2.5 million in addition to NIS 8 million in back taxes.Prosecutors said at Refaeli, 34, and her mother kept tens of millions of shekels in earnings from tax authorities.
The Israeli international model would serve nine months of community service, while her mother Tzipi Refaeli who also acted as her business manager, would be incarcerated for 16 months.
In 2017 Refaeli was arrest by the Israel Tax Authority on suspicion of having evaded taxes for the 2009-2012 period.
Officials said she had lied about living mostly abroad and failed to report on income, gifts, and celebrity discounts she had received during that time, to the Israeli tax authorities.
Rafeli claimed she didn't know anything about the efforts made to conceal her earnings during that period.
Last July, she appealed to the High Court of Justice against a lower court decision that ordered her to pay taxes on NIS 8 million for earnings abroad in 2009-2010. The appeal has been withdrawn as part of her plea agreement.
The case centered on the question of Refaeli's main place of residence.
She claimed that in 2007 she had gone to live in the U.S. to be close to her partner at the time, Hollywood actor Leonardo DiCaprio and that she was therefore not liable to pay taxes in Israel.
The Tax Authority claimed that she had defrauded the state concerning her place of residence and that throughout the period in question she had in fact been living in Israel.
8 june 2020
Nati Haddad lands in the country where he will serve the rest of his almost five-year sentence; he was sentenced in 2017 and 2018 for a series of charges, including possession of weapons and drugs; extradition comes after long diplomatic campaign
Israeli man jailed in Thailand for running an illegal medical clinic, as well as possessing illegal firearms and drugs, was on Sunday extradited to Israel.
Nati Haddad was convicted in 2017 and 2018 on a series of charges and sentenced to over four years in prison. He will serve the rest of his sentence in Israel.
Haddad relocated to Ko Samui, Thailand’s second largest island, several years ago where he opened an unlicensed medical clinic, which he claims was meant to help Israeli tourists who have fallen on hard times.
In July 2017 he was arrested on charges of operating an unlicensed clinic and possessing illegal firearms and ammunition and was sentenced to 18 months to prison.
Later he was also indicted for possession of illegal and expired drugs in the clinic he operated. In December 2018 he was sentenced to additional four years and four months in prison.
Haddad landed at Ben Gurion Airport in the early hours of the morning and was taken to Ayalon Prison in Ramla.
The Israel Prison Services said he underwent a coronavirus test before boarding the plane to Israel, which came out negative. "The complexity of escorting a prisoner during coronavirus is several times greater than the same operation during routine time," said the IPS in a statement.
Thai authorities approved the extradition a months ago following a campaign by Israeli diplomats, including President Reuven Rivlin, who personally sent a request to Thailand's king, Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Haddad himself asked to be extradited shortly after being sentenced due to difficult prison conditions in Thailand, despite not having a permanent residence in Israel - one of the main criteria for extradition requests.
In March 2019, Ayelet Shaked and Gilad Erdan, former justice and internal security ministers respectively, approved Haddad's request.
Israeli man jailed in Thailand for running an illegal medical clinic, as well as possessing illegal firearms and drugs, was on Sunday extradited to Israel.
Nati Haddad was convicted in 2017 and 2018 on a series of charges and sentenced to over four years in prison. He will serve the rest of his sentence in Israel.
Haddad relocated to Ko Samui, Thailand’s second largest island, several years ago where he opened an unlicensed medical clinic, which he claims was meant to help Israeli tourists who have fallen on hard times.
In July 2017 he was arrested on charges of operating an unlicensed clinic and possessing illegal firearms and ammunition and was sentenced to 18 months to prison.
Later he was also indicted for possession of illegal and expired drugs in the clinic he operated. In December 2018 he was sentenced to additional four years and four months in prison.
Haddad landed at Ben Gurion Airport in the early hours of the morning and was taken to Ayalon Prison in Ramla.
The Israel Prison Services said he underwent a coronavirus test before boarding the plane to Israel, which came out negative. "The complexity of escorting a prisoner during coronavirus is several times greater than the same operation during routine time," said the IPS in a statement.
Thai authorities approved the extradition a months ago following a campaign by Israeli diplomats, including President Reuven Rivlin, who personally sent a request to Thailand's king, Maha Vajiralongkorn.
Haddad himself asked to be extradited shortly after being sentenced due to difficult prison conditions in Thailand, despite not having a permanent residence in Israel - one of the main criteria for extradition requests.
In March 2019, Ayelet Shaked and Gilad Erdan, former justice and internal security ministers respectively, approved Haddad's request.
