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6 dec 2010
Abergil brothers to be extradited to US
Yitzhak Abergil
Supreme court rejects appeal by members of crime family, wanted in US on various charges.
The court rejected on Monday appeals by Itzhak and Meir Abergil, of Israel's notorious Abergil crime family, effectively ordering their extradition to the US.
The brothers were arrested in August of 2008 on a warrant issued by US authorities demanding their extradition. They are wanted there for money laundering, blackmail, accessory to murder, and drug charges.
After the court decision was read out many family members present at the hearing began to cry. But Meir's attorney, Avigdor Feldman, said he doubted his client would be indicted in the US.
Itzhak's attorney, Yoram Sheftal, said he was not at all surprised by the decision. "I stand by my claim that there is not enough evidence in the file," he said.
In recent months the two launched a battle against the Prison Service in an attempt to ease the conditions under which they are being held. In April they refused to appear at two court hearings because, they claimed, wardens would not allow them to leave the prison with cookies, milk, clothing, and paper towels.
7 dec 2010
Israeli Chabad emissary nabbed in Madrid with 4kg of cocaine
Friends of the arrested man say he was fooled into smuggling the cocaine as he was returning to Israel after a fund-raising trip to Costa Rica.
A Chabad emissary from Safed was arrested in the Madrid airport late last week after being found in possession of four kilograms of cocaine.
Though the drugs were stashed in one of his suitcases, his friends told Haaretz he was fooled into smuggling the cocaine.
Eliyahu Hecht, 57, a father of six who works for the global charity organization Kollel Chabad, was returning to Israel from Costa Rica, where he was fund-raising for a soup kitchen operated by Kollel Chabad in Safed. He was arrested during a stopover in Madrid, and friends say he only managed to contact his family on Monday.
"He said he was asked by his host in Costa Rica to take a suitcase and deliver it to a woman in Spain," one of the friends, Uri, told Haaretz. "Eliyahu refused, and then the host started telling him, 'how dare he suspect him and how dare he refuse after staying under his roof and eating from his table.' So Eliyahu agreed to the request, but not before checking the suitcase for anything suspicious. It turns out the man still managed to hide the drugs inside."
The organization contacted the Israeli Embassy in Madrid at Hecht's arrest, and Kollel Chabad activists in Safed have begun fund-raising for Hecht's legal defense and to support his family. They said they asked everyone to contribute as much as they can.
Rabbi Ze'ev Crombi, who runs the soup kitchen, told Haaretz that Hecht was detained "in very difficult conditions - without kosher food and without tefillin [phylacteries]. He says detention there is worse than hell."
"Eliyahu is a good, honest man who did his job faithfully, and it's impossible for him to have done what they say he did," Crombi added. "The heart breaks to think of him in that horrific place." Spanish police and the Israeli embassy confirmed the arrest but declined to provide details on the case.
10 dec 2010
Policeman accused of arms theft
Investigators, sappers find cache of improved weapons in suspect's home. Police checking whether he indented to sell arms or use them.
A Border Guard officer has been arrested on suspicion of stealing weapons from his unit. The Haifa Magistrate's Court on Friday extended the remand of the 21-year-old officer accused of storing a large amount of arms, including grenades and even an explosive device at a cache in his home.
The department in charge of officer investigations at the Justice Ministry refused to go into detail regarding the circumstances for the investigation and arrest, but Ynet learned on Thursday that investigators and sappers arrived at the suspect's home in the nothern city of Kiryat Motzkin where they exposed over 10 grenades, an explosive device and other improvised weaponry.
The investigators are currently inspecting whether the suspect, serving as a Border Guard officer in the Ramallah area, is connected to criminal organizations or whether he had intended to sell the arms.
Following a deliberation at the Haifa Magistrate's Court, Judge Orit Kantor ruled that there is reasonable suspicion to believe the officer is guilty of the crime, but has not yet prohibited publishing his name and picture.
According to his Attorneys Tomer Naveh and Zion Shimon, "He is an appraised and brave officer who, for the first time in his life, finds himself behind bars. This situation is foreign to him and his family. We have yet to receive any indication as to the severity and involvement of our client in this case. As the investigation progresses we will be able to finalize our stance regarding these serious allegations."
18 dec 2010
Report: Britain hiding info on MIAs
Zacharia Baumel
Jewish Chronicle says Foreign Office can shed light on Sultan Yacoub battle between Israel, Syria.
The London-based Jewish Chronicle has reported that Britain refuses to publish a document containing information on the three soldiers who may have been captured in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, which took place during the Lebanon War.
The report published Thursday says the British Foreign Office fears publishing the document may harm its relations with Israel's opponent in the 1982 battle, Syria.
Zacharia Baumel, Yehuda Katz, and Zvi Feldman went missing on June 11 of that year, and remain so to this day.
But the Chronicle is claiming that on the day of the battle Britain's ambassador to Syria, Ivor Lucas, reported that the three had been captured by Syrian forces.
Miriam Baumel, Zacharia's mother, is currently spearheading a legal battle in London against the continued silencing of the report, claiming that it could shed light on what happened to the three soldiers.
But the only response Baumel and her lawyers have received from the Foreign Office, the Chronicle says, is, "We are conscious that the release of sensitive information would cause harm to our relationship with Syria."
The paper quotes Baumel as saying, "I just want the public to know this is a humanitarian matter. We keep getting information that these boys and my son were seen in Damascus and that there were witnesses, and anyone who saw something or who could help must help."
29 dec 2010, 00:15 , Respect
Maria 21 dec 2010
Teens suspected of attacking Arabs
Girl suspected of seducing Arabs
Jerusalem Police arrest seven youths on suspicion of assaulting young Arab men in capital after having teenage girl seduce them, lead them to meeting point. Police say suspects confessed their acts were nationalistically-motivated.
Cleared for publication: The Jerusalem Police have arrested seven youths and two young men from Jerusalem and nearby settlements on suspicion of assaulting young Arab men after having a 14-year-old girl seduce them.
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday released three of the teens on bail under limiting conditions.
The police launched an investigation after receiving complaints from many young Arab men, who said they had been assaulted by a group of youths in the city. The number of Arabs attacked is unclear.
According to the suspicions, the attacks took place in Jerusalem's Independence Park and several other locations in the capital. The teens were aided by a girl their age, who seduced the Arab men by asking them for alcoholic beverages and implying that she was interested in having sex with them.
The girl would then lead the young men to a meeting point in the park, where they were allegedly brutally attacked by the teens with stones, glass bottles and tear gas. Police suspect the girl took part in three of the assaults.
'Show us your ID card'
During one of the incidents, the victim cried out that he was not an Arab and begged the youths to stop beating him. They demanded that he show them his identity card, and continued hitting him after verifying that he was in fact an Arab. They then burned his identity card and escaped.
In another incident, they beat up an Arab youth until he lost consciousness, and escaped after presuming that he was dead.
The investigation revealed that the assaults were mostly carried out on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Some of the victims were hospitalized. Significant progress was made in the investigation after the police received intelligence information which led them to one of the suspects.
The suspect admitted to the allegations and led his investigators to the other gang members. According to the police, all the suspects confessed that their acts were nationalistically-motivated. Further arrests are expected.
The police stressed that the arrests were not linked to the attack of a Chilean tourist who was attacked in the same park last month.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4002406,00.html
Abergil brothers to be extradited to US
Yitzhak Abergil
Supreme court rejects appeal by members of crime family, wanted in US on various charges.
The court rejected on Monday appeals by Itzhak and Meir Abergil, of Israel's notorious Abergil crime family, effectively ordering their extradition to the US.
The brothers were arrested in August of 2008 on a warrant issued by US authorities demanding their extradition. They are wanted there for money laundering, blackmail, accessory to murder, and drug charges.
After the court decision was read out many family members present at the hearing began to cry. But Meir's attorney, Avigdor Feldman, said he doubted his client would be indicted in the US.
Itzhak's attorney, Yoram Sheftal, said he was not at all surprised by the decision. "I stand by my claim that there is not enough evidence in the file," he said.
In recent months the two launched a battle against the Prison Service in an attempt to ease the conditions under which they are being held. In April they refused to appear at two court hearings because, they claimed, wardens would not allow them to leave the prison with cookies, milk, clothing, and paper towels.
7 dec 2010
Israeli Chabad emissary nabbed in Madrid with 4kg of cocaine
Friends of the arrested man say he was fooled into smuggling the cocaine as he was returning to Israel after a fund-raising trip to Costa Rica.
A Chabad emissary from Safed was arrested in the Madrid airport late last week after being found in possession of four kilograms of cocaine.
Though the drugs were stashed in one of his suitcases, his friends told Haaretz he was fooled into smuggling the cocaine.
Eliyahu Hecht, 57, a father of six who works for the global charity organization Kollel Chabad, was returning to Israel from Costa Rica, where he was fund-raising for a soup kitchen operated by Kollel Chabad in Safed. He was arrested during a stopover in Madrid, and friends say he only managed to contact his family on Monday.
"He said he was asked by his host in Costa Rica to take a suitcase and deliver it to a woman in Spain," one of the friends, Uri, told Haaretz. "Eliyahu refused, and then the host started telling him, 'how dare he suspect him and how dare he refuse after staying under his roof and eating from his table.' So Eliyahu agreed to the request, but not before checking the suitcase for anything suspicious. It turns out the man still managed to hide the drugs inside."
The organization contacted the Israeli Embassy in Madrid at Hecht's arrest, and Kollel Chabad activists in Safed have begun fund-raising for Hecht's legal defense and to support his family. They said they asked everyone to contribute as much as they can.
Rabbi Ze'ev Crombi, who runs the soup kitchen, told Haaretz that Hecht was detained "in very difficult conditions - without kosher food and without tefillin [phylacteries]. He says detention there is worse than hell."
"Eliyahu is a good, honest man who did his job faithfully, and it's impossible for him to have done what they say he did," Crombi added. "The heart breaks to think of him in that horrific place." Spanish police and the Israeli embassy confirmed the arrest but declined to provide details on the case.
10 dec 2010
Policeman accused of arms theft
Investigators, sappers find cache of improved weapons in suspect's home. Police checking whether he indented to sell arms or use them.
A Border Guard officer has been arrested on suspicion of stealing weapons from his unit. The Haifa Magistrate's Court on Friday extended the remand of the 21-year-old officer accused of storing a large amount of arms, including grenades and even an explosive device at a cache in his home.
The department in charge of officer investigations at the Justice Ministry refused to go into detail regarding the circumstances for the investigation and arrest, but Ynet learned on Thursday that investigators and sappers arrived at the suspect's home in the nothern city of Kiryat Motzkin where they exposed over 10 grenades, an explosive device and other improvised weaponry.
The investigators are currently inspecting whether the suspect, serving as a Border Guard officer in the Ramallah area, is connected to criminal organizations or whether he had intended to sell the arms.
Following a deliberation at the Haifa Magistrate's Court, Judge Orit Kantor ruled that there is reasonable suspicion to believe the officer is guilty of the crime, but has not yet prohibited publishing his name and picture.
According to his Attorneys Tomer Naveh and Zion Shimon, "He is an appraised and brave officer who, for the first time in his life, finds himself behind bars. This situation is foreign to him and his family. We have yet to receive any indication as to the severity and involvement of our client in this case. As the investigation progresses we will be able to finalize our stance regarding these serious allegations."
18 dec 2010
Report: Britain hiding info on MIAs
Zacharia Baumel
Jewish Chronicle says Foreign Office can shed light on Sultan Yacoub battle between Israel, Syria.
The London-based Jewish Chronicle has reported that Britain refuses to publish a document containing information on the three soldiers who may have been captured in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, which took place during the Lebanon War.
The report published Thursday says the British Foreign Office fears publishing the document may harm its relations with Israel's opponent in the 1982 battle, Syria.
Zacharia Baumel, Yehuda Katz, and Zvi Feldman went missing on June 11 of that year, and remain so to this day.
But the Chronicle is claiming that on the day of the battle Britain's ambassador to Syria, Ivor Lucas, reported that the three had been captured by Syrian forces.
Miriam Baumel, Zacharia's mother, is currently spearheading a legal battle in London against the continued silencing of the report, claiming that it could shed light on what happened to the three soldiers.
But the only response Baumel and her lawyers have received from the Foreign Office, the Chronicle says, is, "We are conscious that the release of sensitive information would cause harm to our relationship with Syria."
The paper quotes Baumel as saying, "I just want the public to know this is a humanitarian matter. We keep getting information that these boys and my son were seen in Damascus and that there were witnesses, and anyone who saw something or who could help must help."
29 dec 2010, 00:15 , Respect
Maria 21 dec 2010
Teens suspected of attacking Arabs
Girl suspected of seducing Arabs
Jerusalem Police arrest seven youths on suspicion of assaulting young Arab men in capital after having teenage girl seduce them, lead them to meeting point. Police say suspects confessed their acts were nationalistically-motivated.
Cleared for publication: The Jerusalem Police have arrested seven youths and two young men from Jerusalem and nearby settlements on suspicion of assaulting young Arab men after having a 14-year-old girl seduce them.
The Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday released three of the teens on bail under limiting conditions.
The police launched an investigation after receiving complaints from many young Arab men, who said they had been assaulted by a group of youths in the city. The number of Arabs attacked is unclear.
According to the suspicions, the attacks took place in Jerusalem's Independence Park and several other locations in the capital. The teens were aided by a girl their age, who seduced the Arab men by asking them for alcoholic beverages and implying that she was interested in having sex with them.
The girl would then lead the young men to a meeting point in the park, where they were allegedly brutally attacked by the teens with stones, glass bottles and tear gas. Police suspect the girl took part in three of the assaults.
'Show us your ID card'
During one of the incidents, the victim cried out that he was not an Arab and begged the youths to stop beating him. They demanded that he show them his identity card, and continued hitting him after verifying that he was in fact an Arab. They then burned his identity card and escaped.
In another incident, they beat up an Arab youth until he lost consciousness, and escaped after presuming that he was dead.
The investigation revealed that the assaults were mostly carried out on Thursday and Saturday evenings. Some of the victims were hospitalized. Significant progress was made in the investigation after the police received intelligence information which led them to one of the suspects.
The suspect admitted to the allegations and led his investigators to the other gang members. According to the police, all the suspects confessed that their acts were nationalistically-motivated. Further arrests are expected.
The police stressed that the arrests were not linked to the attack of a Chilean tourist who was attacked in the same park last month.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-4002406,00.html
14 sept 2010
Netanyahu calls on court to ease perjury penalty against MK Hanegbi
Mossad chief Dagan, former president Navon and Defense Minister Barak have also issued calls in support of the former minister, who faces end to political career.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Tuesday joined a long string of public figures who have lined up in support of MK Tzachi Hanegbi, a former minister who is up for sentencing on a perjury conviction that could stall, or even halt, his political career.
In a letter to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Netanyahu urged justices to lighten the penalty being sought against Hanegbi and to allow the MK to continue his political career.
Israel's fifth president, Yitzhak Navon, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had already petitioned the court to reconsider the penalty. In one of several documents that Hanegbi's attorneys plan to submit to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for his sentencing hearing Thursday, Navon wrote: " Hanegbi has the ability to help prevent a split in the nation, and it is my hope that the transgression for which he has been convicted will not prevent him from continuing in his important political activities."
The prosecution may well ask the judges to determine that the offense involves moral turpitude, a finding that would prevent Hanegbi from holding public office for several years.
But Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has yet to decide whether to ask for the moral turpitude finding, given that Hanegbi was acquitted in July of the more serious charges of fraud and breach of trust. He was accused of improperly appointing some 50 Likud Central Committee members or their relatives between 2001 and 2003, when he served as environment minister, in an effort to improve his standing in the Likud party (though he now represents Kadima ).
Although the list of well-known figures with good things to say about Hanegbi is extensive - including Jerry White, an American anti-landmine activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, and Israeli novelist Yoram Kaniuk - many of the documents being submitted by Hanegbi's lawyers were not written with his defense in mind. And in at least some cases, the public officials were not informed that comments they had made in the past are being used in an effort to help Hanegbi now.
Comments by former attorney general Menachem Mazuz, for instance, were made in an interview with Haaretz in which he praised Hanegbi for treating the prosecutor's office with respect.
Supreme Court Justice Edna Arbel discovered yesterday that a note she wrote to Hanegbi in 1997 to thank him for defending the State Prosecutor's Office in a speech was one of the documents that will be submitted on his behalf. At the time, Arbel was state prosecutor and Hanegbi was justice minister.
Hanegbi's lawyers are also summoning the spirit of former Supreme Court justice Haim Cohen, who died in 2002.
"Your matter-of-fact and considered approach to every matter (small and large ), your good understanding and friendly relationship that you cultivated with the president of the Supreme Court, your attention to the opinions and problems of the ministry employees are worthy of gratitude and great esteem," Cohen wrote to Hanegbi in July 1999.
Cohen's widow, writer and musicologist Michal Zmora-Cohen, said earlier this week she hadn't known the letter was being used for Hanegbi's defense, adding: "I don't think it should influence the judges because they understand not to put a letter that Haim wrote years ago into a different context."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-calls-on-court-to-ease-perjury-penalty-against-mk-hanegbi-1.313834
Netanyahu, Dagan speak out against punishing Hanegbi
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan have spoken out against punishing MK Tzachi Hanegbi who has been convicted of perjury, Ynet has learned.
Netanyahu sent a letter to Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, which is dealing with Hanegbi's case, in which he noted that "the state will benefit if MK Hanegbi is permitted to continue to take on public roles." Dagan sent a letter to Hanegbi in which he expressed his hope that the court would take Hanegbi's public service into account and the fact that it is important that "people like you" continue to serve in public office.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3954282,00.html
PM asks court to clear MK Hanegbi of 'moral turpitude'
Netanyahu's letter asking for a favorable finding was read in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, stated Hanegbi still has much to offer the state.
Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday received a letter from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu adding his voice to those pleading before the court not to find Kadima MK Tzahi Hanegbi guilty of moral turpitude in evidence, and, therefore, banned by Israeli law from serving in the Knesset for the next seven years.
The prime minister's letter read, "in response to the verdict issued by the court and without attempting to interfere with the proceedings of the court, I request to present to your honors my opinion that the state would benefit if MK Hanegbi was allowed to fulfill public duties."
The Movement for Quality Government slammed Sunday what it described as “public lobbying” by prominent figures in favor of Hanegbi.
Army Radio reported on Sunday that a long line of politicians, diplomats, former IDF officers and others, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Kadima Faction Chairwoman MK Dalia Itzik, former president Yitzhak Navon and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel had submitted letters to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court via Hanegbi’s defense attorney, asking the court to find that Hanegbi’s crimes had not involved “moral turpitude.”
According to the law, if the court finds an MK guilty of a charge and explicitly determines that the crime involved moral turpitude, he or she will be barred from serving in the Knesset for seven years.
In a split decision two months ago, Judges Yoel Tsur, Aryeh Romanov and Oded Shaham acquitted Hanegbi of prosecutors main charge of fraud and breach of trust, which was based on the allegation that as environmental protection minister between 2001 and 2003, Hanegbi appointed 69 Likud central committee members or their relatives to ministry jobs. As a corollary, he was also charged with election bribery and seeking to influence those with the power to vote.
While the central charge in the indictment was dropped, Romanov and Shaham found Hanegbi guilty of perjury and making a false oath. The state accused Hanegbi of lying under oath to the Election Committee, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Mishael Cheshin, when he testified that he had not written an article published in a Likud magazine.
Hanegbi tried to put a positive spin on the July ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in which he was acquitted of three charges but convicted of two others, by describing it as a “win-win” situation.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=188098
Netanyahu calls on court to ease perjury penalty against MK Hanegbi
Mossad chief Dagan, former president Navon and Defense Minister Barak have also issued calls in support of the former minister, who faces end to political career.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan on Tuesday joined a long string of public figures who have lined up in support of MK Tzachi Hanegbi, a former minister who is up for sentencing on a perjury conviction that could stall, or even halt, his political career.
In a letter to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, Netanyahu urged justices to lighten the penalty being sought against Hanegbi and to allow the MK to continue his political career.
Israel's fifth president, Yitzhak Navon, and Defense Minister Ehud Barak had already petitioned the court to reconsider the penalty. In one of several documents that Hanegbi's attorneys plan to submit to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court for his sentencing hearing Thursday, Navon wrote: " Hanegbi has the ability to help prevent a split in the nation, and it is my hope that the transgression for which he has been convicted will not prevent him from continuing in his important political activities."
The prosecution may well ask the judges to determine that the offense involves moral turpitude, a finding that would prevent Hanegbi from holding public office for several years.
But Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has yet to decide whether to ask for the moral turpitude finding, given that Hanegbi was acquitted in July of the more serious charges of fraud and breach of trust. He was accused of improperly appointing some 50 Likud Central Committee members or their relatives between 2001 and 2003, when he served as environment minister, in an effort to improve his standing in the Likud party (though he now represents Kadima ).
Although the list of well-known figures with good things to say about Hanegbi is extensive - including Jerry White, an American anti-landmine activist who won the Nobel Peace Prize in 1997, and Israeli novelist Yoram Kaniuk - many of the documents being submitted by Hanegbi's lawyers were not written with his defense in mind. And in at least some cases, the public officials were not informed that comments they had made in the past are being used in an effort to help Hanegbi now.
Comments by former attorney general Menachem Mazuz, for instance, were made in an interview with Haaretz in which he praised Hanegbi for treating the prosecutor's office with respect.
Supreme Court Justice Edna Arbel discovered yesterday that a note she wrote to Hanegbi in 1997 to thank him for defending the State Prosecutor's Office in a speech was one of the documents that will be submitted on his behalf. At the time, Arbel was state prosecutor and Hanegbi was justice minister.
Hanegbi's lawyers are also summoning the spirit of former Supreme Court justice Haim Cohen, who died in 2002.
"Your matter-of-fact and considered approach to every matter (small and large ), your good understanding and friendly relationship that you cultivated with the president of the Supreme Court, your attention to the opinions and problems of the ministry employees are worthy of gratitude and great esteem," Cohen wrote to Hanegbi in July 1999.
Cohen's widow, writer and musicologist Michal Zmora-Cohen, said earlier this week she hadn't known the letter was being used for Hanegbi's defense, adding: "I don't think it should influence the judges because they understand not to put a letter that Haim wrote years ago into a different context."
http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/netanyahu-calls-on-court-to-ease-perjury-penalty-against-mk-hanegbi-1.313834
Netanyahu, Dagan speak out against punishing Hanegbi
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mossad chief Meir Dagan have spoken out against punishing MK Tzachi Hanegbi who has been convicted of perjury, Ynet has learned.
Netanyahu sent a letter to Jerusalem Magistrates' Court, which is dealing with Hanegbi's case, in which he noted that "the state will benefit if MK Hanegbi is permitted to continue to take on public roles." Dagan sent a letter to Hanegbi in which he expressed his hope that the court would take Hanegbi's public service into account and the fact that it is important that "people like you" continue to serve in public office.
http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3954282,00.html
PM asks court to clear MK Hanegbi of 'moral turpitude'
Netanyahu's letter asking for a favorable finding was read in Jerusalem Magistrate's Court, stated Hanegbi still has much to offer the state.
Jerusalem Magistrate's Court on Tuesday received a letter from Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu adding his voice to those pleading before the court not to find Kadima MK Tzahi Hanegbi guilty of moral turpitude in evidence, and, therefore, banned by Israeli law from serving in the Knesset for the next seven years.
The prime minister's letter read, "in response to the verdict issued by the court and without attempting to interfere with the proceedings of the court, I request to present to your honors my opinion that the state would benefit if MK Hanegbi was allowed to fulfill public duties."
The Movement for Quality Government slammed Sunday what it described as “public lobbying” by prominent figures in favor of Hanegbi.
Army Radio reported on Sunday that a long line of politicians, diplomats, former IDF officers and others, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Kadima Faction Chairwoman MK Dalia Itzik, former president Yitzhak Navon and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel had submitted letters to the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court via Hanegbi’s defense attorney, asking the court to find that Hanegbi’s crimes had not involved “moral turpitude.”
According to the law, if the court finds an MK guilty of a charge and explicitly determines that the crime involved moral turpitude, he or she will be barred from serving in the Knesset for seven years.
In a split decision two months ago, Judges Yoel Tsur, Aryeh Romanov and Oded Shaham acquitted Hanegbi of prosecutors main charge of fraud and breach of trust, which was based on the allegation that as environmental protection minister between 2001 and 2003, Hanegbi appointed 69 Likud central committee members or their relatives to ministry jobs. As a corollary, he was also charged with election bribery and seeking to influence those with the power to vote.
While the central charge in the indictment was dropped, Romanov and Shaham found Hanegbi guilty of perjury and making a false oath. The state accused Hanegbi of lying under oath to the Election Committee, headed by retired Supreme Court justice Mishael Cheshin, when he testified that he had not written an article published in a Likud magazine.
Hanegbi tried to put a positive spin on the July ruling by the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court in which he was acquitted of three charges but convicted of two others, by describing it as a “win-win” situation.
http://www.jpost.com/Israel/Article.aspx?id=188098
13 sept 2010
NGO decries VIP lobbying of the court on Hanegbi's behalf
Hearings begin today on sentencing for perjury, and to determine whether Kadima MK will be banned from politics for 7 years.
The Movement for Quality Government slammed Sunday what it described as public lobbying by prominent figures in favor of MK Tzahi Hanegbi (Kadima).
Army Radio reported on Sunday that a long line of politicians, diplomats, former IDF officers and others, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Kadima Faction Chairwoman MK Dalia Itzik, former president Yitzhak Navon and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel had submitted letters to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court via Hanegbi's defense attorney, asking the court to find that Hanegbi's crimes had not involved moral turpitude.
According to the law, if the court finds an MK guilty of a charge and explicitly determines that the crime involved moral turpitude, he or she will be barred from serving in the Knesset for seven years.
The hearings on the subject are slated to begin Monday as part of the sentencing hearings for Hanegbi, who was found guilty of false testimony in a state comptroller's probe.
The NGO launched an alternate petition Sunday signed by members of the general public calling on the court to rule that Hanegbi' s perjury regarding his controversial political appointments indeed involved moral turpitude.
The Movement for Quality government said that the lobbying on Hanegbi's behalf was inappropriate, degrading and embarrassing.
The movement was shocked by the approaches to the Magistrate's Court made by those who asked that Hanegbi not be found to have acted with criminal intent it should have been obvious that such inappropriate and questionable approaches should not have been made, said the organization, in a statement published Sunday.
Hanegbi was cleared of a number of the original charges listed in his indictment, but was found guilty of delivering false testimony in the case, which concerned over 100 political appointments made while he served as a environment minister for the Likud Party.
While clean-government advocates said that such appointments cannot be condoned, there has been no legal precedent for convicting current or former ministers of corruption for appointing party supporters to government positions.
Hanegbi's political future has been unclear for eight years, as the legal process played itself out. For the past four years, while on trial, he could not accept any cabinet positions.
The court's ruling in his case left his political future still uncertain. Had he been found guilty of the two additional charges in the indictment fraud and breach of trust his fate would have been clearer.
In its online petition calling for Hanegbi to be found to have acted with moral turpitude, the Movement for Quality Government called on public figures and members of the general public to join the public call that anyone who morally failed in their public duties should not be allowed to return once again to the political arena and to repeatedly damage the public's faith in its leaders.
The petition enjoyed limited success, garnering fewer than 100 signatures in its first day.
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=187873
12 sept 2010
Don't humiliate ex-minister over perjury, politicians urge
Tzachi Hanegbi MK outside a Jerusalem court after his acquittal of corruption charges.
Politicians unite behind Tzachi Hanagbi as court prepares to sentence Kadima MK for false testimony during cronyism trial.
An array of public figures including a former president, the Knesset speaker and an award-winning author on Sunday urged judges not end the political career of Tzachi Hanegbi, an ex-minister convicted of perjury.
Hanegbi, a Knesset member for the opposition Kadima party and former minister, was on in July acquitted of charges of nepotism during his time in office. But despite ruling him not guilty of the major charges against him, the court convicted Hanegbi of giving false testimony during the trial.
On Sunday, his supporters wrote to the court, asking judges not to let what the say is a relatively offense destroy the ambitions of Hanagebi, who is widely seen as a moderating force in Israel's devise politics.
"Hanegbi holds the capability to help prevent a split in the nation and it is my hope that the transgression for which he has been convicted will not prevent him from continuing in his important political activities," wrote Yitzhak Navon, who served as Israel's fourth president.
Gabriella Shalev, who in August completed a term as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, wrote: "There is no doubt in my heart that Tzachi has learned his lesson and acknowledged past mistakes."
As part of the trial process, Israeli courts invite defendants to submit testimony from character witnesses before sentencing.
Other witnesses included Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, his predecessor Dalia Itzik, author Yoram Kaniuk and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
Hanegbi's trial, which involved more than 100 witnesses and produced a transcript that ran to 15,000 pages, was used by lawyers as a flagship event in a campaign against political corruption.
Although in opposition, Hanegbi is a seen as close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is believed to be one of the strongest proponents of a move to take Kadima, led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, into the government coalition.
http://bit.ly/dqaxww
Public figures back MK Hanegbi before court
MK Tzahi Hanegbi
Former president, Nobel Prize laureate among letter-writers attempting to keep MK in public office .
MK Tzahi Hanegbi, who was convicted of perjury but absolved of nepotism charges, filed letters from a number of esteemed public figures with the court Sunday morning in an attempt to persuade the court to lighten his sentence and allow him to continue to serve in public office.
Yitzhak Navon, among supporters
Israel Radio reported that among Hanegbi's supporters are former President Yitzhak Navon, former Knesset speakers Reuven Rivlin, Dalia Itzik, Avraham Burg, and Dan Tichon, and reserve generals Amos Yaron and Giora Eiland.
Former Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, Nobel Prize laureate author Elie Wiesel, and senior jurisprudent Prof. Uriel Procaccia were also among the supporters.
"I believe that in this time of division among the people we must be thankful for anyone who acts moderately to bridge between the different public sectors," wrote Navon.
Burg, Tichon, Rivlin, and Itzik wrote that they were "united in the belief that MK Hanegbi has the ability to continue to contribute to the state's actions and help Israel as it faces its many challenges".
Eiland said he knew Hanegbi from the time in which he served as head of the National Security Council, when Hanegbi was in charge of relations with the US. "He is one of Israel's most talented politicians," he wrote.
Prof. Procaccia said Hanegbi was "fair, moderate, and considerate", and should be allowed to continue to serve the public, while writer Wiesel said he was "restrained, quiet, and open-hearted".
The prosecution in Hanegbi's case is expected to demand moral turpitude, a sentence which would effectively ban the MK from public service for seven years.
http://bit.ly/9Zzf75
7 sept 2010
MKs on high seas check security layout at gas rig
MK Hanegbi. Gas rig must be defended against attack
Members of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee set sail to rig 24 km off Gaza coast. MK Hanegbi says country must be prepared for option that gas lines will be targeted in terror attack
Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee sailed to the high seas on Thursday in order to examine the security arrangements on the natural gas rig "Yam Thetis," which is located 24 km (about 15 miles) off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
The Knesset members, lead by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima), toured the site in order to see up close the quality of the gas facility in light of the increased threat of terrorist attacks on the backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the armament of terrorist organizations with more accurate weaponry than they had access to in the past.
The committee members arrived on the site after two hours of sailing. Once there, they were hoisted onto the deck of the rig, which sits 42 meters (yards) above sea level in a bucket lifted by a massive crane.
Knesset members Tzachi Hanegbi, Ronnie Bar-On, Avi Dicther, and Otniel Schneller of Kadima and Amir Peretz of Labor participated in the tour.
At the end of the tour, Hanegbi said that the committee was quite impressed by the significant efforts the rig's operators are investing in defending it from external attack, both on a daily basis and in times of emergency.
Hanegbi emphasized that the more Israel succeeds in decreasing its dependence on external gas sources, it must become increasingly prepared that its strategic energy infrastructure will be preferred targets of terrorist attacks.
http://bit.ly/db9JaP
NGO decries VIP lobbying of the court on Hanegbi's behalf
Hearings begin today on sentencing for perjury, and to determine whether Kadima MK will be banned from politics for 7 years.
The Movement for Quality Government slammed Sunday what it described as public lobbying by prominent figures in favor of MK Tzahi Hanegbi (Kadima).
Army Radio reported on Sunday that a long line of politicians, diplomats, former IDF officers and others, including Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin (Likud), Kadima Faction Chairwoman MK Dalia Itzik, former president Yitzhak Navon and Nobel Laureate Elie Wiesel had submitted letters to the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court via Hanegbi's defense attorney, asking the court to find that Hanegbi's crimes had not involved moral turpitude.
According to the law, if the court finds an MK guilty of a charge and explicitly determines that the crime involved moral turpitude, he or she will be barred from serving in the Knesset for seven years.
The hearings on the subject are slated to begin Monday as part of the sentencing hearings for Hanegbi, who was found guilty of false testimony in a state comptroller's probe.
The NGO launched an alternate petition Sunday signed by members of the general public calling on the court to rule that Hanegbi' s perjury regarding his controversial political appointments indeed involved moral turpitude.
The Movement for Quality government said that the lobbying on Hanegbi's behalf was inappropriate, degrading and embarrassing.
The movement was shocked by the approaches to the Magistrate's Court made by those who asked that Hanegbi not be found to have acted with criminal intent it should have been obvious that such inappropriate and questionable approaches should not have been made, said the organization, in a statement published Sunday.
Hanegbi was cleared of a number of the original charges listed in his indictment, but was found guilty of delivering false testimony in the case, which concerned over 100 political appointments made while he served as a environment minister for the Likud Party.
While clean-government advocates said that such appointments cannot be condoned, there has been no legal precedent for convicting current or former ministers of corruption for appointing party supporters to government positions.
Hanegbi's political future has been unclear for eight years, as the legal process played itself out. For the past four years, while on trial, he could not accept any cabinet positions.
The court's ruling in his case left his political future still uncertain. Had he been found guilty of the two additional charges in the indictment fraud and breach of trust his fate would have been clearer.
In its online petition calling for Hanegbi to be found to have acted with moral turpitude, the Movement for Quality Government called on public figures and members of the general public to join the public call that anyone who morally failed in their public duties should not be allowed to return once again to the political arena and to repeatedly damage the public's faith in its leaders.
The petition enjoyed limited success, garnering fewer than 100 signatures in its first day.
http://www.jpost.com/Home/Article.aspx?id=187873
12 sept 2010
Don't humiliate ex-minister over perjury, politicians urge
Tzachi Hanegbi MK outside a Jerusalem court after his acquittal of corruption charges.
Politicians unite behind Tzachi Hanagbi as court prepares to sentence Kadima MK for false testimony during cronyism trial.
An array of public figures including a former president, the Knesset speaker and an award-winning author on Sunday urged judges not end the political career of Tzachi Hanegbi, an ex-minister convicted of perjury.
Hanegbi, a Knesset member for the opposition Kadima party and former minister, was on in July acquitted of charges of nepotism during his time in office. But despite ruling him not guilty of the major charges against him, the court convicted Hanegbi of giving false testimony during the trial.
On Sunday, his supporters wrote to the court, asking judges not to let what the say is a relatively offense destroy the ambitions of Hanagebi, who is widely seen as a moderating force in Israel's devise politics.
"Hanegbi holds the capability to help prevent a split in the nation and it is my hope that the transgression for which he has been convicted will not prevent him from continuing in his important political activities," wrote Yitzhak Navon, who served as Israel's fourth president.
Gabriella Shalev, who in August completed a term as Israel's ambassador to the United Nations, wrote: "There is no doubt in my heart that Tzachi has learned his lesson and acknowledged past mistakes."
As part of the trial process, Israeli courts invite defendants to submit testimony from character witnesses before sentencing.
Other witnesses included Knesset speaker Reuven Rivlin, his predecessor Dalia Itzik, author Yoram Kaniuk and Nobel laureate Elie Wiesel.
Hanegbi's trial, which involved more than 100 witnesses and produced a transcript that ran to 15,000 pages, was used by lawyers as a flagship event in a campaign against political corruption.
Although in opposition, Hanegbi is a seen as close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and is believed to be one of the strongest proponents of a move to take Kadima, led by former foreign minister Tzipi Livni, into the government coalition.
http://bit.ly/dqaxww
Public figures back MK Hanegbi before court
MK Tzahi Hanegbi
Former president, Nobel Prize laureate among letter-writers attempting to keep MK in public office .
MK Tzahi Hanegbi, who was convicted of perjury but absolved of nepotism charges, filed letters from a number of esteemed public figures with the court Sunday morning in an attempt to persuade the court to lighten his sentence and allow him to continue to serve in public office.
Yitzhak Navon, among supporters
Israel Radio reported that among Hanegbi's supporters are former President Yitzhak Navon, former Knesset speakers Reuven Rivlin, Dalia Itzik, Avraham Burg, and Dan Tichon, and reserve generals Amos Yaron and Giora Eiland.
Former Jewish Agency Chairman Natan Sharansky, UN Ambassador Gabriela Shalev, Nobel Prize laureate author Elie Wiesel, and senior jurisprudent Prof. Uriel Procaccia were also among the supporters.
"I believe that in this time of division among the people we must be thankful for anyone who acts moderately to bridge between the different public sectors," wrote Navon.
Burg, Tichon, Rivlin, and Itzik wrote that they were "united in the belief that MK Hanegbi has the ability to continue to contribute to the state's actions and help Israel as it faces its many challenges".
Eiland said he knew Hanegbi from the time in which he served as head of the National Security Council, when Hanegbi was in charge of relations with the US. "He is one of Israel's most talented politicians," he wrote.
Prof. Procaccia said Hanegbi was "fair, moderate, and considerate", and should be allowed to continue to serve the public, while writer Wiesel said he was "restrained, quiet, and open-hearted".
The prosecution in Hanegbi's case is expected to demand moral turpitude, a sentence which would effectively ban the MK from public service for seven years.
http://bit.ly/9Zzf75
7 sept 2010
MKs on high seas check security layout at gas rig
MK Hanegbi. Gas rig must be defended against attack
Members of Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee set sail to rig 24 km off Gaza coast. MK Hanegbi says country must be prepared for option that gas lines will be targeted in terror attack
Members of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Sub-committee sailed to the high seas on Thursday in order to examine the security arrangements on the natural gas rig "Yam Thetis," which is located 24 km (about 15 miles) off the coast of the Gaza Strip.
The Knesset members, lead by Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee Chairman MK Tzachi Hanegbi (Kadima), toured the site in order to see up close the quality of the gas facility in light of the increased threat of terrorist attacks on the backdrop of Israeli-Palestinian peace talks and the armament of terrorist organizations with more accurate weaponry than they had access to in the past.
The committee members arrived on the site after two hours of sailing. Once there, they were hoisted onto the deck of the rig, which sits 42 meters (yards) above sea level in a bucket lifted by a massive crane.
Knesset members Tzachi Hanegbi, Ronnie Bar-On, Avi Dicther, and Otniel Schneller of Kadima and Amir Peretz of Labor participated in the tour.
At the end of the tour, Hanegbi said that the committee was quite impressed by the significant efforts the rig's operators are investing in defending it from external attack, both on a daily basis and in times of emergency.
Hanegbi emphasized that the more Israel succeeds in decreasing its dependence on external gas sources, it must become increasingly prepared that its strategic energy infrastructure will be preferred targets of terrorist attacks.
http://bit.ly/db9JaP