by Dr. Haim Shine
Hat tip: Dr. Jean-charles Bensoussan
A new report sheds light on the rot that tainted the process of investigating and indicting the prime minister.
On Monday night, Channel 12 political reporter and analyst Amit Segal opened a Pandora's Box the like of which I don't remember seeing in the history of the country. It provided major substance for what many people feel – that the system of law enforcement is rotting away, putting Israeli democracy in danger and causing the public to lose faith in the police, the State Attorney's Office, and the attorney general.
If the rot is allowed to spread, it will destroy the courts. There is no democracy without fair and honest enforcement. As a veteran legal scholar and also a veteran of the 1973 Yom Kippur War, I have the sense that we are witnessing law enforcement's Yom Kippur failures.
For years, Israeli society has been spun around by news and the allegations against Netanyahu. Now claims are being made that show some basis for the suspicion that cases were being stitched up to bring about a change of government. Serious and infuriating claims are being made about problematic and consistent conduct by Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit; former State Attorney Shai Nitzan; former Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh; and investigators from the Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit. According to the newest claims, they thought anything went if it was part of an attempt to frame Netanyahu.
Given Monday's report, it could be argued that the problematic transcription of the questioning of Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch; the taped conversations between Gabi Ashkenazi and Mendelblit about the appointment of an acting state attorney; the alleged extortion of state's witnesses; the conduct of State Attorney Liat Ben Ari that should be investigated immediately; the leaks to the media; and Alsheik's interview to journalist Ilana Dayan prior to the publication of the police's recommendations in the cases are only one link in a long chain of conduct that casts a dark shadow over the system of law enforcement. A truly black day for Israeli democracy.
We can also add the alleged conflict of interest for the head of the team of investigators that probed the case of financial mismanagement at the Prime Minister's Residence, given Monday's report of romantic ties between Judy Nir Mozes, the sister of Arnon "Noni" Mozes – a suspect in Case 2,000 – and the lead investigators, who reportedly had important information about the case and who allegedly failed to disclose his relationship with Nir Mozes, which posed a conflict of interest. There are also the allegations that information was kept secret and the investigation was torpedoed by his commanders.
It is possible that the police commanders to whom the investigator reported were afraid to report the allegations lest the investigation be tainted, which would be to Netanyahu's benefit. The senior police commanders who allegedly stopped the investigation included one who made up a story that representatives of Netanyahu were tracking him.
According to the reports, Shai Nitzan stopped a probe into Alsheikh's problematic conduct in the events at Umm al-Hiran, and his explanation would shock any honest person: "On one hand, the conduct was insufferable, and what's more, if we rise above the event and look at the general relationship between the state prosecution and the police, escalating the fight now would only benefit the person who wishes law enforcement ill. The police commissioner indeed acted scandalously here, but there are national interests that must be taken into account."
I have no doubt that more revelations are coming. If law enforcement and the courts want to hold onto their status and credibility, they must reach out to the Supreme Court in one of its High Court of Justice sessions and ask for an immediate stop to all proceedings against the prime minister until the stink, rot, and problems that plagued the investigation and the indictment are clarified.
Dr. Haim Shine
Source: https://www.israelhayom.com/opinions/law-enforcements-yom-kippur-war/
Follow Middle East and Terrorism on Twitter
No comments:
Post a Comment