Tuesday, May 23, 2023

2023-05-24 Bank HaPoalim and me // אני ובנק הפועלים

 

כשמדובר בבנק שלך, לא צריך רעש וצלצולים. 
צריך מקצוענים שפועלים בשבילך באמת.

 



23 במאי, 2023





לכבוד
נציבות תלונות הציבור, בנק הפועלים בע"מ
בדוא"ל
דרך פורטל הבנק: https://www.bankhapoalim.co.il/he/contact-a-banker

הנידון: תלונה בגין פעולות בלתי חוקיות נגדי במהלך 10 השנים האחרונות וחשש להתנהלות בלתי ראויה של בכירים במחלקה המשפטית של בנק הפועלים בע"מ


English Summary

On May 23, 2023, Joseph Zernik, PhD, has filed a complaint with Bank HaPoalim LTD’s Public Complaints Office, regarding a series of wrongful actions against him by the Bank, which have lasted for over a decade. Such wrongful actions included periodic seizing of his accounts and repeatedly making false claims that he was a US Person, even after he repeatedly filed the legal references and signed documents that refuted such claims. Such actions culminated in an incident that started in early February 2023, continued with seizing of his Bank accounts on April 24, 2023, and an attempt to extort his signature on a dubious Bank HaPoalim LTD’s form - “Waiver” of his Right for Privacy and his Right for Bank Secrecy, as well as his “consent” for Bank HaPoalim LTD to continue the unlawful transfer all information about him to the US government, although he was neither a US citizen nor a US Person. Following a previous complaint, filed by Dr Zernik with Bank of Israel-Banking Regulation on May 15, 2023 (Appendix 1), Bank HaPoalim LTD abruptly dropped its wrongful demands and released Dr Zernik’s accounts on May 21, 2023. However, the complaint claims that serious concerns remain of wrongful conduct by senior officers in the Legal Department of Bank HaPoalim LTD and a systemic failure, which culminated in the production of flagrantly wrongful legal bank forms and a wrongful attempt to extort a customer’s signature on them.
א/ג נכבדים שלום רב,
הרקע העובדתי
  1. ביום 15.5.2023 הגשתי תלונה לבנק ישראל, הפיקוח על הבנקים, נגד בנק הפועלים בע"מ [מצ"ב - נספח 1]. התלונה מתארת את השתלשלות העניינים במהלך 10 השנים האחרונות, בהן הבנק תפס שוב ושוב את חשבונותיי, תפיסה בלתי חוקית, בטענת שווא שאני US Person. מעשים אלה חזרו על עצמם במהלך 10 השנים האחרונות, למרות שבכל פעם מסרתי לבנק את האסמכתאות והמסמכים הנדרשים להראות שאינני US Person. ב-24.4.2023 הבנק שוב תפס את חשבונותיי. הפעם הבנק גם דרש שאחתום על כתב ויתור על זכותי לפרטיות ועל זכותי לסודיות בנקאית והסכמה כי בנק הפועלים בע"מ יעביר לממשלת ארה"ב מידע אודותיי, כולל "כל מסמך או מידע הנוגעים לחשבונות ואשר מוחזקים ו/או מנוהלים בבנק". כמו כן, הבנק גם דרש כי אחתום כי "לא הודעתי לבנק בזמן על כל שינוי במעמד שלי כ-US Person” [צרופה 1 לנספח 1].
  2. ביום 17.5.2023 קיבלתי הודעה מבנק ישראל, כי התלונה הועברה לנציבות תלונות הציבור בבנק הפועלים בע"מ [מצ”ב - נספח 2].
  3. ביום 20.5.2023 הגשתי לבנק הפועלים בע"מ בקשה לעיון ברישומי הבנק אודות מעמדי כ-US Person, או כמי שאינו US Person, וכו’ [מצ”ב – נספח 3].
  4. ביום 21.5.2023 הגשתי בקשה לוועדת ביקורת של הבנק, כולל יו"ר הדירקטוריון, יו"ר ועדת ביקורת, המנכ"ל ומזכיר החברה, לאשר כי טופס "שינוי רישום US PERSON, הצהרה וכתב ויתור", הוא טופס אותנטי של בנק הפועלים בע”מ, שהוכן ואושר לשימוש על פי הנהלים והפרקטיקות הקבועים בבנק להכנת טפסים ואישורם לשימוש [מצ”ב – נספח 4]. הסיבה העיקרית לבקשה זו שטופס זה נחזה כבלתי חוקי בעליל, בפרט הפסקה האחרונה בטופס, הדורשת כי בעל חשבון הבנק יוותר על זכותו לפרטיות ועל זכותו לסודיות בנקאית ויסכים כי בנק הפועלים בע"מ יעביר לממשלת ארה"ב מידע אודותיו, אף אם אינו US Person. דרישת לחתימת הלקוח על טופס זה, בפרט תחת האיום והלחץ של תפיסה בלתי חוקית של חשבונות הלקוח, נחזית כהפרה בוטה של החוק.
  5. ביום 21.5.2023 קיבלתי מכתב בחתימת "נ. יעל שבתאי וא. בן עזרי, ההנהלה הראשית, בנק הפועלים בע"מ” [מצ”ב – נספח 5]. שמותיהם המלאים של החותמים ותפקידיהם בבנק הפועלים בע"מ נותרו עלומים. מכתב זה הוא ככל הנראה מענה על תלונתי לבנק ישראל מיום 15.5.2023 (המכתב מהנהלת בנק הפועלים בע"מ אינו כולל מספר סימוכין לתלונתי, ואינו כולל תאריך תקין של תלונתי לבנק ישראל. במכתב זה מוסרת ההנהלה כי "הוחלט... להסיר את החסימה בחשבונך ולאשר את הסרת האינדיקציות להיותך US PERSON”. כלומר, הבנק החליט לוותר לחלוטין על דרישותיו, שהיה להן בסיס חוקי כביכול, ושהיו העליה לתפיסת חשבונותיי, ושעליהן הבנק עמד בתוקף רק ימים ספורים קודם לכן (פסקה 1, לעיל).
  6. טיעוני התלונה
  7. ראשית יש להבהיר כי הסרת החסימה של חשבוני אינה מבטלת את בקשתי מיום 20.5.2023 לעיין ברישומי הבנק אודותיי, וכן אינה מבטלת את בקשתי מיום21.5.2023 לחברי ועדת הביקורת של הבנק לאשר כי טופס "שינוי רישום US PERSON, הצהרה וכתב ויתור", שעליו נדרשה חתימתי, הוא טופס אותנטי של הבנק.
  8. הסרת החסימה מחשבוני, מבלי שנכנעתי לדרישות הבנק באשר לטופס "שינוי רישום US PERSON, הצהרה וכתב ויתור" (פסקה 1, לעיל), מאששת את החשש שפעולות הבנק נגדי במהלך השנים ובפרט בחודש האחרון היו פעולות חסרות בסיס בדין ולא ראויות (בלשון המעטה) של המחלקה המשפטית של בנק הפועלים בע”מ:
(א) החשש הוא שלמרות שהגשתי שוב ושוב את האסמכתאות והמסמכים הנדרשים, הבנק לא תיקן את הרישומים אודותיי במשך 10 שנים, ובמהלכן המשיך להעביר מידע אודותיי לרשויות ממשלת ארה”ב שלא כדין.
(ב) חשש נוסף הוא כי באמצעות תפיסת חשבונותיי בחודש האחרון, והניסיון לסחוט את חתימתי על טופס "שינוי רישום US PERSON, הצהרה וכתב ויתור", הבנק ניסה להלבין בדיעבד את פעולותיו הבלתי ראויות במהלך 10 השנים האחרונות, ע"י קבלת הודיה שקרית מטעמי, כי "לא הודעתי לבנק בזמן על כל שינוי במעמד שלי כ-US Person”.
(ג) החשש החמור מכל הוא כי באמצעות תפיסת חשבונותיי והניסיון לסחוט את חתימתי על טופס "שינוי רישום US PERSON, הצהרה וכתב ויתור", הבנק ניסה לקבל ממני, שלא כדין ויתור על זכויותיי והרשאה לבנק הפועלים בע"מ להמשיך ולהעביר לממשלת ארה"ב מידע אודותיי גם בעתיד, שלא כדין.
9. סדרת הפעולות ומשך הזמן של 10 שנים במהלכן התבצעו שוב ושוב, מעלים את החשש שמדובר בהתנהלות בלתי ראויה (בלשון המעטה) של בכירים במחלקה המשפטית של בנק הפועלים בע”מ, שפעלו בצוותא חדא. האירוע האחרון, בחודשים אפריל-מאי 2023, נחזה כפעולה בלתי ראויה (בלשון המעטה) ב"שיטת מצליח", שכשלה.
10. לאור חומרת המעשים והחשש שמעורבים בהם בכירים במחלקה המשפטית של הבנק, נראה שמדובר בכשל מערכתי. לפיכך, אני מבקש בדיקה מקיפה של התנהלות הבנק בעניין זה על ידי ועדת הביקורת של דירקטוריון הבנק.
סיכום
11. לאור כל האמור לעיל, הריני מבקש בזאת הסבר ראוי לסדרת הפעולות, שהבנק הפעיל נגדי ב-10 השנים האחרונות, ובפרט בחודשים האחרונים, הנחזות כהפרות בוטות של החוק.
12. כמו כן, הריני מבקש שתשובתכם תיחתם ע"י בעל/ת הסמכות המתאימה, תוך ציון שמו/ה המלא ותפקידו/ה בבנק הפועלים בע”מ.
בברכה,
ד"ר יוסף צרניק

Monday, May 22, 2023

2022-05-22 התקפלות מפוארת של בנק הפועלים

 התקפלות מפוארת של בנק הפועלים

אפילו לא איימתי עליהם בתביעה...

בתשובה על הבקשות לאימות הטופס ולהסבר באשר לבסיס המשפטי לתוכנו, קצינת הציות שלחה לי הודעה שהם מוותרים פתאום על הכל.

אז מה היה לנו פה?

***מרמה משפטית בדרגים הגבוהים של בנק מרכזי במדינת ישראל!***



Sunday, May 21, 2023

2023-05-21 Bank HaPoalim, Bank of Israel and I // אני, בנק הפועלים ובנק ישראל

 

בנק הפועלים, בשת"פ עם בנק ישראל, תפסו בניגוד לחוק את חשבונות הבנק שלי, ומסרבים לתת לי גישה לכספי. הם מנסים לסחוט ממני הרשאה להעביר את כל המידע עלי לממשלת ארה"ב. מישהו מכיר סיפור דומה?
הטופס נחזה בלתי חוקי בעליל.
היום ביקשתי מהנהלת הבנק אישור, שהטופס הוא טופס אותנטי של הבנק.





2023-05-21 Bank HaPoalim, Bank of Israel and I

My bank account in Israel is again unlawfully "frozen" by Bank HaPoalim in collusion with Bank of Israel.

Random arbitrary abuse or targeted retaliation? Bank HaPoalim provides a fake legal response. 👇 I am no "foreign resident" and I have no "foreign resident partner". Try again, crooks.
Random arbitrary abuse, or targeted retaliation? My bank account in Israel is again unlawfully "frozen" by Bank of Israel and . They falsely claim that I am a "US Person" (US citizen, permanent resident, etc...) subject to US gov law. Anybody knows of similar cases?
Unlawful freezing of bank accounts is a typical US retaliation instrument, most notably taken against Wikileaks in 2010, prompting a general warning by NYT of stifling #FreeSpeech and #PressFreedom .
Here is the form, which Bank HaPoalim demands that I sign. The last paragraph (unnumbered for some reason) demands that I sign a waiver of the Right for Privacy and the Right for Bank Secrecy and permit Bank HaPoalim to transfer "all information" about me to US gov.
Here is a request to inspect banking record, which I filed on May 20, 2023, with Bank HaPoalim, in order to discover what they really entered in their data regarding my US citizenship/US Person status, and any unlawful transfer of information about me to US gov.

And here is my May 11, 2023 letter to Bank HaPoalim, asking that they explain the legal foundation for their actions.









2023-05-21 אני, בנק הפועלים ובנק ישראל

1.אני, בנק הפועלים Bank Hapoalim ובנק ישראל

הסיפור הזה הולך ללוות אותי בשבועות ואולי בחודשים הקרובים. ולכן, החלטתי לשתף.
הפועלים @PoaliMarkeTweet, בשת"פ עם בנק ישראל, תפסו בניגוד לחוק את חשבונות הבנק שלי, ומסרבים לתת לי גישה לכספי.
הם מנסים לסחוט ממני הרשאה להעביר את כל המידע עלי לממשלת ארה"ב.
***מישהו מכיר סיפור דומה?***
אנא תייגו את הכתבים הכלכליים, אם אתם מכירים אותם, כי נראה לי שיתפתח פה סיפור מעניין.
Image
להלן מכתב הפתיחה ב"סבב" הנוכחי: הם טוענים שאני אזרח זר, תושב בישראל (foreign resident), ודורשים ממני את המסמכים הנדרשים מאזרח ארה"ב או US PERSON, למרות שכבר מעל ל 10 שנים אני שב ומגיש להם אותם מסמכים כל פעם.
Image
 
זאת לא הפעם הראשונה:
* בשנים 2013-2012 הם עשו לי תרגיל דומה. הפועלים וסטנלי פישר הנוכל התחזו למיישמים עלי את החוק אמריקאי (FATCA) שלא היה אז בתוקף בארה"ב, ובוודאי שלא בישראל (תקנות FATCA תוקנו ב-2016).
* ב-2022-2013, הם תפסו לי את החשבון זמנית, כל שנה בערך - בגלל "אינדיקציות" או "סממנים" שאני US PERSON. כל שנה הגשתי שוב אותם מסמכים.
* כל ההבטחות לתקן את הנתונים במאגר לא קוימו.
* אבל הפעם, גם לאחר שהגשתי את כל המסמכים כרגיל, להראות שאינני US PERSON, הם דורשים שאחתום על "ויתור" - הרשאה מטעמי לבנק הפועלים, להעביר את כל המידע עלי לממשלת ארה"ב.
אין לי סודות גדולים. אבל אני וממשלת ארה"ב כבר לא.
***האם מדובר פה בשרירות וגחמנות עבריינית אקראית? או שמא זאת הטרדה מטורגטת?***
***אם מישהו מכיר מקרה דומה, עו"ד שעסקו בתחום, אשמח לשמוע.***
אני לא עשיר, לא מפורסם, ולא עושה להם צרות כבר מזמן. אולי קצת צרות במדינת ישראל.
לכן, לא ברור לי מה הסיפור השנה: שרירות וגחמנות עבריינית אקראית? או הטרדה מטורגטת?
*** אם מישהו מכיר סיפור דומה, אנא שתפו או DM***
 
2.אני, בנק הפועלים בנק הפועלים Bank Hapoalim ובנק ישראל
כל הטפסים השנה היו כמו כל שנה (לדוגמה W-8BEN אמריקאי).
אבל הפעם היה טופס חדש, שהוא עצם המחלוקת:
1. בסעיף 6, הם דורשים שאסמן את האפשרות שלא גיליתי להם שאני לא אזרח ארה"ב (לאחר 10 שנים שאני מגיש את הניירות כל שנה בערך).
2. בפסקה האחרונה מעל לשורת החתימה הם הכניסו פסקה שאומרת שלמרות שאינני US PERSON, מותר להם להעביר את כל המידע עלי לארה"ב.
*** מישהו ראה את הטופס הזה? חתם על הטופס הזה? ***
May be an image of text
 
3. כל הסיפור הזה מנפח לי את האגו.
אני מספיק חשוב שבנק הפועלים בנק הפועלים Bank Hapoalim וממשלת ארה"ב יתעסקו בנכלולים כדי לרגל אחריו???
 
4. אני, בנק הפועלים Bank Hapoalim ובנק ישראל
בנק הפועלים בשת"פ עם בנק ישראל תפסו את חשבונות הבנק שלי ומנסים לסחוט ממני ויתור על הזכות לפרטיות והזכות לסודיות בנקאית: הרשאה מטעמי לבנק הפועלים להעביר את כל המידע עלי לממשלת ארה"ב.
האם בנק הפועלים וממשלת ארה"ב מרגלים עלי שלא כדין?
היום הגשתי בקשה לעיון לפי תקנה 1 לתקנות הגנת הפרטיות (עיון במידע), התשמ"א 1981, הכוללת:
* דרישות מטעם רשויות ארה"ב לקבלת מידע אודותיי מאת הבנק,
* העברת מידע אודותיי ע"י הבנק לרשויות ארה"ב.
 
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--

Sunday, March 26, 2023

“Constitutional Crisis” in Israel – Yehudism is the driving force

 Constitutional Crisis” in Israel – Yehudism is the driving force

Yehudism is a supremacist, predatory, violent and murderous ideology, which evolved in Israel out of Orthodox-Judaism, fostered and sponsored for decades by “left” and right-wing governments. It provides the ideological basis for the Jewish-Israeli Apartheid regime. Today, it is the driving force behind the current “Constitutional Crisis” (in a nation with no constitution). It corrupts Judaism worldwide. US Jews should lead the struggle against Yehudism and the Jewish-Israeli Apartheid regime.

Tel Aviv, March 25 – Menachem Klein, Professor Emeritus of Political Studies at Bar-Ilan University, has published this weekend an opinion piece titled: “Supremacy, oppression, power - the toxic face of the new Judaism.”[i] Klein’s opinion is particularly notable, since it comes from Bar-Ilan University – a unique Israeli phenomenon: A public university with clear identification with Orthodox Judaism, name after a Orthodox rabbi, where at least ten courses in Jewish studies are required for graduation.
David Ohana, Professor Emeritus of State of Israel Studies at Ben Gurion University, has published this weekend an opinion piece titled: “Bezalel Smotrich’s Nihilism is close to Nazism.” [ii] Settler Smotrich is the leader of the “Religious Zionism” party, currently he holds the office of Minister of the Treasury and is one of the key figures in the current ruling coalition.[iii] Ohana’s assertions should not be applied only to Smotrich, as an individual, but to the Orthodox-Jewish religious ideology, which Smotrich represents – Yehudism.
Yehudism is a supremacist, predatory, violent and murderous ideology. It evolved out of Orthodox-Judaism in Israel, fostered and sponsored for decades by “left” and right-wing governments. It provides the ideological basis for the Jewish-Israeli Apartheid regime, and the driving force behind the current “Constitutional Crisis” in Israel.
Yehudism is supported by some segments of the Jewish-Orthodox community in the US and Europe as well. It corrupts Judaism worldwide and is likely to become a disgrace for generations to come.

There is no such thing as a Palestinian people and Greater Israel
What triggered Ohana’s piece was Smotrich’s appearance in Paris last week. From a podium decorated with the map of “Greater Israel” – stretching from the Mediterranean to Iraq, including Gaza, the occupied Palestinian territories, the Kingdom of Jordan and parts of Saudi Arabia – Smotrich announced that there was no such thing as a “Palestinian people”.


Jewish Press on Twitter: “Smotrich in Paris: ‘No such thing as Palestinian people’”.
https://mobile.twitter.com/JewishPress/status/1637766515444334599
Smotrich’s statement drew condemnation from France, through the US, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, UAE, Qatar, all the way to China.[iv,v,vi]
The aspiration for Greater Israel is central to Yehudism. At the center of the “Constitutional Crisis” and widespread protest is a series of laws, which are now in the process of being enacted, and which aim at weakening the judicial branch and providing the executive branch with much greater power.[vii] However, it should be noted that the first law enacted in this series was the law repealing the 2005 Disengagement Plan.[viii]
The 2005 Disengagement Plan led to the withdrawal from Gaza and the establishment of the Gaza Ghetto in its current form, and to the dismantling of a small number of Jewish settlements in the northern part of the occupied Palestinian territories and prohibition by Israeli law of building new Jewish settlements in that area (all Jewish settlements in the occupied Palestinian territories are a war crime pursuant to international law) .
Following the repeal of the 2005 Disengagement Plan, Yehudist settler “Minister of National Missions” Orit Strook (“Religious Zionism” party) announced:
"I don't know how many years it will take ... the return to Gaza involves many sacrifices. Gaza is part of the Land of Israel and the day will come when we will return to it."


Zachary Foster on Twitter
https://twitter.com/_ZachFoster/status/1638281839432421382?s=20
Obviously, any Israeli government to which Yehudists are partners, denying the existence of a Palestinian people and aspiring for Greater Israel, wouldn’t negotiate any peace, based on the “Two-state Solution” with the Palestinians.

Erasing Huwara and a genocidal ideology


Smotrich’s comments in Paris were no gaffe. Earlier this month, following the Huwara Pogrom by Jewish settlers in collusion with Israeli occupation forces, he called for “erasing Huwara.”


Breaking the Silence on Twitter: “"I liked a tweet that called to erase the village of Huwara because I think the village of Huwara needs to be erased. The state of Israel is the one that needs to erase it."
Bezalel Smotrich, Finance Minister, MK Religious Zionism party.”
https://twitter.com/BtSIsrael/status/1630914133678850055

Smotrich’s “Vanquishing Plan”
Prof. Ohana reasons his opinion regarding the similarity between Smotrich’s Yehudist ideology Nazism:
“With Smotrich it is a comprehensive world view, which includes an action plan, which binds him to indefatigably act to annihilate the Palestinians, to erase their identity, to deprive their rights, to destroy their homes.”


Prof Ohana also refers to Smotrich’s 2017 “Vanquishing Plan,” where Smotrich writes:[ix]
“No more dragging our feet and cosmetic solutions of chasing the mosquitoes, but drying the whole swamp, and addressing the root problem to completion.”
The “realistic plan” is evident on a daily basis in the occupied Palestinian territories, where Yehudist settler assault Palestinians and Jewish-Israeli anti-Apartheid activists.[x]


The “realistic plan” was stated more explicitly on different occasions by Yehudist Effi Eitam, retired brigadier general, former leader of the National Religious Party, and a minister in previous Netanyahu governments. In a bizarre twist, in 2020 Eitam was nominated by Netanyahu as head of Yad Vashem – the Israeli national Holocaust remembrance institute.[xi]
Eitam’s statement are clearly of genocidal character.

Yehudism’s religious teachers

The “religious conceptual manifesto”, referred to in Smotrich’s “Vanquishing Plan” is provided by a coven of Yehudist Orthodox rabbis, the most notorious of them being US-born Yitzchak Ginsburgh. It should be noted that Ginsburgh belongs to the US-based Chabad movement, and is considered a leading Jewish scholar by Chabad. Chabad itself is generally treated in the US as a normative mainstream Orthodox-Jewish sect and accordingly benefits from tax-exempt status.
Of note, Smotrich (then Minister of Transportation) and his Yehudist colleague Rafi Peretz (then Minister of Education) attended the 2019 awarding to Ginsburgh of a Ministry of Education sponsored "Creativity in Torah" prize for Jewish scholarship.[xii]
Obviously, such incitement to racism and violence by Jews is perpetrated with impunity. Had any Palestinian expressed opinions regarding Jews, even remotely similar, he would have been immediately arrested.

The goal – establishing a Jewish theocracy
Another tenet of Yehudism is the aspiration for transforming the State of Israel into a theocracy under Halachic (Jewish religious) law. Weakening the courts is required for advancing this goal as well.

If Not Now on Twitter
https://twitter.com/IfNotNowOrg/status/1140635810309517312?s=20
According to Smotrich the goal is a Jewish theocratic monarchy. However, Smotrich is no Jewish scholar. According to Jewish law, a Jewish theocracy today should be ruled by a commission of Jewish scholars – a Sanhedrin.

“Combating Antisemitism” is used to shield Yehudism and the Jewish-Israeli Apartheid regime

One doubts that Ohana could get his opinion published today in any mainstream newspaper in the US.
In Germany, publishing such opinion could have triggered criminal prosecution and conviction.[xiii]
German law has continuously restricted criticism of Israel as “antisemitic”.[xiv] The trend was exacerbate following the widespread adaption of the “non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism” by IHRA (International Holocaust Remembrance Alliance). The definition itself does not refer to the State of Israel or Zionism. However, the examples provided by IHRA explicitly include: [xv]
“Drawing comparisons of contemporary Israeli policy to that of the Nazis,” and “Manifestations might include the targeting of the state of Israel, conceived as a Jewish collectivity. However, criticism of Israel similar to that leveled against any other country cannot be regarded as antisemitic.”

World Jews and Yehudism
In February 2022, the Board of Deputies of British Jews UK Jews issued an unprecedented condemnation of Smotrich, in advance of his planned visit to the UK, referring to his “abominable opinions and hate mongering ideology”. The Board called for UK Jewish communities to boycott Smotrich during his visit. However, it should be noted that the Board published its condemnation only in Hebrew [translation added – jz].


Board of Deputies of British Jews on Twitter: “We reject Bezalel Smotrich’s abominable opinions and hate mongering ideology”… [Hebrew original, translation added – jz]
https://twitter.com/BoardofDeputies/status/1491481825147072515?s=20
In mid-March, Smotrich traveled to Washington DC, where he was featured as a keynote speaker in the annual convention of the Israel Bonds (Development Corporation for Israel (DCI)). Ahead of his visit, Some US Jewish groups called upon the US government to revoke his visa and prohibit his entry to the US.[xvi] Eventually, US officials and some but not all parts of the US Jewish community boycotted his visit.[xvii,xviii]
The ideological relationship between the extremist Orthodox-Jewish Kahanism of the 1980s and 1990s and Netanyahu government’s Yehudist partners – Religious Zionism and Jewish Might parties – are obvious.[xix,xx,xxi,xxii] The Kahane group, which was a marginal fringe group at the time, was outlawed in Israel in 1994 and was listed by the US authorities as a “terror group” in 1995.[xxiii]
Today, some 30 years later, the same ideology is much more prevalent, both in Israel and among Jewish communities worldwide. The Israeli government is under their control, and the Israeli government fosters, funds and arms Yehudism, while US and EU authorities are turning a blind eye.
Jewish communities are squirmish in putting up a real, clearcut, vocal opposition.

Next: “Constitutional Crisis” in Israel -- a Yeats moment


LINKS

i Menachem Klein “Supremacy, oppression, power - the toxic face of the new Judaism” Haaretz (2003)

https://www.haaretz.co.il/magazine/the-edge/2023-03-22/ty-article/.highlight/00000187-090f-d4dd-a1c7-2ddf7e990000

ii David Ohana “Bezalel Smotrich’s Nihilism is close to Nazism” Haaretz (2023)

https://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/2023-03-23/ty-article-opinion/.premium/00000187-0e7b-d26b-a5f7-dffb46510000

iv Lazar Berman, AFP and Jacob Magid "US joins condemnations of Smotrich’s ‘concerning and dangerous’ Paris speech" Times of Israel (2023)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/france-joins-condemnations-of-smotrichs-paris-speech-infuriating-irresponsible/

v Benjamin Barthe "Bezalel Smotrich, Israel's ultra-nationalist minister, delivers anti-Palestinian diatribe in Paris" Le Monde (2023)

https://www.lemonde.fr/en/international/article/2023/03/20/bezalel-smotrich-israeli-ultra-nationalist-minister-delivers-anti-palestinian-diatribe-in-paris_6020081_4.html

vi Riyaz ul Khaliq "‘Irresponsible’: China blasts Israeli minister denying Palestinian existence" AA (2023)

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/politics/-irresponsible-china-blasts-israeli-minister-denying-palestinian-existence/2852788

vii Daniel Estrin "Israel protests intensify over judicial system overhaul" NPR (2023)

https://www.npr.org/2023/03/18/1164565603/israel-protests-intensify-over-judicial-system-overhaul

Hadas Gold and Amir Tal "Israel passes law shielding Netanyahu from being removed amid protests over judicial changes" CNN(2023)

https://edition.cnn.com/2023/03/23/middleeast/israel-judicial-reforms-prime-minister-law-intl/index.html

viii Tzvi Joffre "Israel repealed the Disengagement law: What comes next? - explainer" The Jerusalem Post (2023)

https://www.jpost.com/israel-news/article-735128

ix Bezalel Smotrich “The vanquishing plan: The key to peace resides in the right” Ha-Shiloah 81 (2017)

https://hashiloach.org.il/wp-content/uploads/2016/11/hashiloach-6-pnim-print-1.pdf

xi TOI Staff "Far-right ex-minister picked to head Yad Vashem hits back at ‘baseless’ censure" Times of Israel (2020)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/far-right-ex-minister-picked-to-head-yad-vashem-hits-back-at-baseless-censure/

xii Joseph Zernik "Notoriously racist, settlers' "Rabbi" wins Jewish scholarship prize" OpEdnews.com (2019)

https://www.opednews.com/articles/Notoriously-racist-settle-by-Joseph-Zernik-Judaism-Jewish-190717-852.html

xiii Amanda Borschel-Dan "German judge rules: Anti-Zionism is code for anti-Semitism" Times of Israel (2015)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/german-judge-rules-anti-zionism-is-code-for-anti-semitism/

xiv Emily Harris "German Anti-Semitism Laws Stifle Critics of Israel" NPR (2006)

https://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=6047204

xv IHRA “About the IHRA non-legally binding working definition of antisemitism” IHRA

https://www.holocaustremembrance.com/resources/working-definitions-charters/working-definition-antisemitism

xvi Judah Ari Gross and Jacob Magid "Liberal American Jews urge US to revoke Smotrich’s visa over Huwara remarks" Times of Israel (2023)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/liberal-american-jews-urge-us-to-revoke-smotrichs-visa-over-huwara-remarks/

xvii i24NEWS Staff "U.S. officials to boycott Smotrich during his visit - report" i24NEWS (2023)

https://www.i24news.tv/en/news/israel/diplomacy/1677922696-u-s-officials-to-boycott-smotrich-during-his-visit-report

xviii Aaron Boxerman "U.S. Jewish Groups to Shun Israeli Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Washington Visit" Wall Street Journal (2023)

https://www.wsj.com/articles/u-s-jews-set-to-shun-israeli-finance-minister-bezalel-smotrich-on-washington-visit-4818ac5f

xix  TOI Staff "After AIPAC rebuke, Netanyahu defends aiding Kahanists: ‘Hypocrisy by the left’" Times of Israel (2019)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/after-aipac-rebuke-pm-defends-aiding-kahanists-hypocrisy-by-the-left/

xx Yossi Verter "Israel Election: Netanyahu Knows Putting Kahanists in the Security Cabinet Is His Key to Stay Out of Court" Haaretz (2022)

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2022-08-28/ty-article/.premium/netanyahu-knows-putting-kahanists-in-the-security-cabinet-is-his-key-to-stay-out-of-court/00000182-e354-d25e-abd2-eb5e8c680000

xxi TOI Staff “Ultranationalists launching party to the right of Ben Gvir’s extremist Otzma Yehudit” Times of Israel (2022)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/ultranationalists-launching-party-to-the-right-of-ben-gvirs-extremist-otzma-yehudit/

xxii Editorial “Kahanism Won. Israel Is Now Closing in on a Right-wing, Religious, Authoritarian Revolution” Haaretz (2002)

https://www.haaretz.com/opinion/editorial/2022-11-02/ty-article-opinion/kahanism-won/00000184-3591-d636-a9ed-fdb1292d0000

xxiii Dean E. Murphy "Terror Label No Hindrance To Anti-Arab Jewish Group" New York Times (2000)

https://www.nytimes.com/2000/12/19/nyregion/terror-label-no-hindrance-to-anti-arab-jewish-group.html

Thursday, February 16, 2023

Three privileged brothers... shame, shame, shame!


A family saga.
Read at: https://inproperinla.blogspot.com/2023/02/mediation-among-three-privileged.html

Uri writes:

---------- Forwarded message ---------
From: Uri Zernik <uri.zernik>
Date: Tue, Feb 14, 2023 at 8:42 PM
‪Subject: בקשה לאחי‬

ספי, דרור,

חזרתי לקליפורניה.  ובמילים פשוטות אני פונה אליכם שתדברו ותתפשרו.
שלושה אחים פריבילגים קיבלו ירושה מהוריהם ולא מסוגלים להגיע לפשרה בלי לשכור עורך דין, ומגשר, וכפי הנראה כעת אפילו בית דין לענייני משפחה.
הקרקע מסביב בוערת -- אם לא שמתם לב.  בדחיפות צריך למכור את הדירה ולהוציא את הכסף מחשבון הבנק.
אני מוכן להסכים לכל פשרה ששניכם תגיעו אליה.
כל מה שיש לי לומר זה בושה, בושה, בושה!

אורי
"... In simple words I ask you to talk and compromise.
Three privileged brothers, who received an inheritance from their parents and can't reach a compromise without hiring a lawyer and a mediator, and now apparently even the family court.
The land is burning -- if you haven't noticed...
I am willing to accept whatever compromise the two of you reach.
All I have to say is shame, shame, shame..."

Amazing how concern regarding tax liability can transform a person! 
Initially, I thought I would just treat this sanctimonious note as water off a duck's back.
But then again, it is about time to recount where we stand today and how we got here.

Whatever compromise the two of you reach
First - if it were not for my efforts, there would have been no mediation, and we would have been in court by now.
Second - until just a couple of weeks ago, Uri colluded with Dror in the shenanigans of hiding key estate property, such as the Wilhelm Lehmbruck oil painting, which may be one of the highest value items in the estate... 
Third - when I suggested to Uri and Dror that we enter mediation, in order to avoid a court process, Dror tried to induce me to approach Atty Rachel Ben-Ari to accept the case for mediation. Neither Dror nor Attorney Ben-Ari disclosed that she had been Dror's counsel at least since 2021. That fact I discovered soon afterwards on my own, through inspection of court records. 
Fourth - a key issue, which prevents progress in the matter at hand is that Dror has failed for years to file due reports (financial and assets) in his capacity as Ima's conservator, in violation of the law and regardless of repeat instructions of the family court.
Later Uri explained that Uri and Dror's conduct was merely "lack of transparency". I considered it more in the line of lack of good faith, misleading, or deceit.

Hiring lawyers 
In the mediation, currently underway, Uri and I appear by ourselves, unrepresented. Dror, on the other hand, the one who holds the necessary information for proceeding and concluding the mediation, refuses to participate in person. Only his attorney participates, and she too, by and large, engages in obfuscation.
I copy all my mediation correspondence to Dror (who wouldn't acknowledge receipt, as has been his practice for over 10 years). Uri until now has colluded in communicating only through Dror's attorney, who according to Uri is there to serve as Dror's "bulletproof vest". 
Why would anyone, participating in a good faith mediation, need a "bulletproof vest"???
And until now, when I asked Uri to talk with Dror and get him to more actively cooperate in the mediation, Uri's response was either that he, Uri, was unwilling to do so, or alternatively - that Dror was unwilling to talk with him regarding these matters.

The land is burning 
 
Nothing is burning. The Israeli  Apartheid regime is fully patronized by the US. 
What is propagandized as a "pro democracy" protest is just a sham. The Jewish Israeli public is united in its support of Jewish supremacy and the Apartheid regime (a crime against humanity in international law). There are only some disputes among the various factions regarding the manner in which the Apartheid regime should be administered.
For example, a key argument of the "pro democracy" camp is that the "reform of the justice system", now being advanced by the Netanyahu-Yehudistic coalition, would expose the occupation generals and foot soldiers to an increased risk of prosecution by the Hague International Criminal Court on charges of war crimes...

Three privileged brothers
I dunno. 
Maybe Uri is privileged. Maybe Dror is privileged, I don't think I am privileged, or haven't been privileged for a long time...

 
Between 2007-2010 I was targeted for intense persecution by the California and US authorities.
As I quickly discovered, I was targeted by Sandor Samuels, Chief Legal Officer of Countrywide, then also serving as President of Bet Tzedek ("Justice for All" - one of the most visible institutions of the Greater Los Angeles Jewish Federation) and key figure in the Los Angeles Jewish legal mafia.  
Once I exposed him, things only got worse...
January 13, 2009 - BET TZEDEK - DINNER GALA
I wasn't even a customer of Countrywide, I had no business with Countrywide at all... I was just a collateral damage in a much more complex, multi-billion dollar banking fraud by Countrywide on the US government... which started years prior to the 2008 Subprime Crisis... 
    
By 2009, after Senator Dianne Feinstein (then Chair of the Senate Intelligence Committee) had filed on my behalf a couple of Congressional Inquiries on the FBI, I was told that I had been designated by the FBI a "bad guy". 
White vans with tinted dark windows were parked in front of my place 24/7. My phone line was tapped. My email was tapped... 
A couple of years ago, I was communicating with FBI whistleblower Coleen Rowley (one of Time magazine's 2002 "persons of the year"). I wrote to her that I had been designate by FBI a "bad guy". She confirmed that FBI used such a tag. However, she was astounded, b/c the tag was usually reserved for major crime figures.
By the end, in 2010, I escaped from the US in shorts, a T-shirt, flip flops, and carrying three computers, under clear and present danger of being shot by Federal agents.
The last email I got from Federal agent Darcy Smith, who was trying to capture me, was: 
"Fool me once, shame on you, fool me twice, shame on me..."
Within 2 weeks after arriving in Israel, a police snitch was attached to me 24/7, harassing and threatening me for the next 2 years... 
Later, in 2017, the Israeli prosecutor especially came from home on a Saturday night to visit me in my detention cell. He then informed me, as if I needed any notice, that I was under total surveillance in Israel as well...
  




By early 2013, whatever money I had managed to salvage from the US was "frozen" by Bank HaPoalim without any legal foundation. There was no written record either. I was told that it was done on behalf of the Israeli and US governments...
Similar unlawful retaliatory actions were perpetrated in 2010 against Wikileaks (by the way - I appear about 20 times in the Wikileaks archives...). They led to a Christmas 2010 NYT Editorial "Banks and Wikileaks", which explained that under the new circumstances the NYT was intimidated by the banks, and wouldn't be able to freely report news regarding the banks.
Editorial "Banks and Wikileaks" NYT (December 25, 2010)

https://www.nytimes.com/2010/12/26/opinion/26sun3.html  

Similar unlawful retaliatory actions were perpetrated in following years against some drone whistleblowers in the US.
I was left penniless, and ended up as a "registered homeless person" in Tel Aviv (in Tel Aviv you must register to be homeless...) living in a protest tent for the next 5 years. The protest signs referred to government corruption in Israel, at a time when the protest movement in Israel was still focused on the cost of living ["the Cottage Cheese Protest"].
Bank of Israel Governor, a world class bankster, Stanley Fischer, refused to accept the due filing of my Consumer's Complaint against Bank HaPoalim for its unlawful actions against me. Eventually I got a letter from Fischer's office, a couple of pages of fake legal narrative (based on FATCA - a law that was not in force in the US at that time, surely not in Israel), ending: "We are sorry for the aggravation, but we would not be able to assist in your case."
Had I not been able to gain protection by the German government, I would have been minced meat by then, and in consequent incidents...
In 2017, when I was presenting in an EU-sponsored e-Government conference in the Portuguese Military Academy in Lisbon, large police, Shin Bet and Tel-Aviv municipality forces appeared with heavy equipment in the middle of the night and demolished the tent. I again lost whatever was left of whatever was left of my possessions.
A video of the demolition was posted in Facebook:

Shame, shame, shame!

So let's do the walk of shame:

2010 
  
On February 7, 2010, I was caught by LAPD (purportedly for driving with an expired license plate sticker) and locked up in Twin Towers Jail. Twin Towers Jail is a notorious US post-modern dungeon. ACLU wrote tomes about it... 
ACLU "LA COUNTY JAILS"
I was one of only a couple of white men in a "pod" of about 40 blacks and latinos, some of them gang members. However, The most dangerous part of Twin Towers Jail are gangs of Sheriff's deputies. Lee Baca, LA Sheriff at the time, eventually landed in a federal prison...
I barely had access to a phone, neither a phone book, nor pen and paper. I managed to keep Uri's phone number on me and called him from jail and asked him to pay bail for me, which I would return to him immediately upon release.
Uri failed to pay the bail. 
Later he explained that the problem was that that evening was Super Bowl night.
My friend Hemi later told me a different story: Uri called him that night and told him that I called from jail. Uri told Hemi that Uri thought that there was no need to bail me out, since I would manage to be released sooner or later anyway...
As was the case in a number of dire situations, I was rescued neither by family nor by friends, but by total strangers.
That evening a menacing Black guy approached me and told me: "We need a preacher for tomorrow morning." I answered that I grew up in a Jewish home. He answered: "That's what we've got." I suggested: "Let's cut a deal," I would do my best in preaching, and they would get me out of jail. 
We shook hands.
Sunday morning, with neither book nor paper, I preached to them on Genesis 1:1 and John 1:1, the life of Jesus under the evil Roman empire, and their lives under the evil American empire... 
By Sunday late afternoon I was out - the prisoners arranged for me a bail/bond agent!

2010
From Israel, I hired a contractor to pack whatever was left of my belongings and ship it to Israel. The contractor demanded that a person on my behalf would open the door for his workers. 
I asked Uri to do it. 
Uri declined. Uri agreed to do it only on the condition that I would instruct the contractor to ship all my belongings to Uri's place, where Uri would sort them out and decide what would be shipped to Israel... 
Eventually Linda agreed to do it.
From Israel, I asked Uri if he would agree that I forward my mail to his address, then he would put it once a month in a big envelope and mail it to me in Israel. 
Uri declined. He agreed to do it only on  the condition that Uri would open my mail and decide each month which were the 2-3 most important items, scan them and email them to me in Israel... 
Eventually Linda agreed to do it.
What a f@#$ed-up privileged brother!

2010

April 28, 2010 I returned to Israel,
Visiting my father, Robert, I told him that unfortunately I had become sort of an expert on frauds, and I asked him not to start any new shenanigans. My problems with him had gone back as far as my late teens. 
Robert answered that he was not impressed by my new skills...
I slept a few nights at Uncle Eli's home.
I slept a few nights at Cousin Amit's home.
I slept at my parent's home.
I slept at Dror's home.
May 11-13, 2010 - I shared a room with Uri in the Hebrew University Guest House, and had a receipt for it (pic above).
June 1-5, 2010 - Robert Zernik, Uri Zernik and Dror Zernik colluded in secretly filing a request for appointing a conservator for Ima without disclosing it either to Uncle Eli or to me, in violation of the law. 
In such a request all three of them filed false and misleading affidavits, stating:
a. That Uncle Eli consented to their request, 
b. That they didn't know my whereabouts.
I discovered that matter later, during inspection of the court file.
Uncle Eli was furious. Neither b/c Robert, Uri and Dror hid the filing from him in violation of the law, nor b/c of the false affidavits, stating that he had consented to their request. He was furious b/c of the fact that no conservator had been appointed for Ima for the previous 5 years...
When I told Robert that I had discovered the affidavits, he was upset. He said that I shouldn't have inspected the court file, but instead, I should have asked him what was in the court file...

2011-2012
In one of the rounds of such shenanigans, Robert (with Dror as a lackey with plausible deniability), again assisted by an attorney, tried to induce me around 2011-2012 to sign a Gift Agreement, materializing Ima's future inheritance, accepting under such terms the ownership of an apartment in Ramat Gan.
Such agreements are explicitly prohibited by Israeli law. They are null and void by law.
Robert refused to inform me regarding the assessment of the property, he refused to allow me to see the property, he refused to allow me to receive a key to the property, and he refused to allow me to inform the tenants of the change in ownership.
And why was the urgency to materialize Ima's future inheritance???
In short, it was clear to me at the time that they were trying to induce me to enter a fake, straw real estate deal - a recipe for a future legal dispute.
To their great disappointment, I refused to accept the "gift".
At the same time, my father repeatedly complained to me that b/c of me he had to resort to hiring the most expensive family attorney in Haifa and spent considerable sums of money. 
I employed no attorney and refused to become a party to any such court process, although Robert and Dror tried to drag me at that time into a court dispute.

2013- 2016
My father, Uri and Dror started a new scheme - trying to misrepresent me as legally incompetent.
As part of such a scheme, following Robert's passing away, Uri and Dror filed affidavits in the office of the Registrar of Inheritances, stating that my legal competence status was dubious (pic).
When I asked Uri about it a couple of weeks ago, he explained that they were sincerely concerned about me...

In the meantime, during the same years, while Robert, Uri and Dror were sincerely concerned regarding my dubious legal competence...
* In 2010 - I published and presented papers in a conference in the Czech Republic on Data Mining. These two papers are probably my most cited papers to date. In Wikipedia and CS textbooks, they are summarized as follows:
Wikipedia – Data Mining
Applications: Human rights
Data mining of government records – particularly records of the justice system (i.e., courts, prisons) – enables the discovery of systemic human rights violations in connection to generation and publication of invalid or fraudulent legal records by various government agencies.[24][25]
24. Zernik, Joseph; Data Mining as a Civic Duty – Online Public Prisoners' Registration Systems, International Journal on Social Media: Monitoring, Measurement, Mining, 1: 84–96 (2010)
25. Zernik, Joseph; Data Mining of Online Judicial Records of the Networked US Federal Courts, International Journal on Social Media: Monitoring, Measurement, Mining, 1:69–83 (2010)
* In 2012 - I published and presented papers in the World Criminology Congress in Japan, the subject of which was the Criminological Background of the Banking Crisis.
* Starting in 2011 - I published and presented multiple papers in various international conferences on e-Government.
* In 2013-2015 - I conducted archive research and editing work for the Hebrew edition of Yitzaq Shami's works. It was a project that I had started in the early 1990s as a 70th birthday gift for Ima. She was very happy with it. Eventually it included the publication in English, French, Hebrew and Arabic.
I discovered a new story by Shami - "Keeper of the Last Mosque"  - and had part of it published in the Haaretz literary supplement.
 
* By 2015 - I have completed the negotiation of a deal for the Hebrew publication of Yizhaq Shami's works with the largest book publisher in Israel. The case involved complex copyright issues. Soon after publication the book won the Israeli Ministry of Culture "Masterpiece Book" prize.
In conjunction with such work I published papers on Shami with Prof. Y. Schwartz, who was nominated for the Israel Prize in Hebrew Literature Research (vetoed by Netanyahu).
I was invited as a speaker in an evening organized by the Hebrew Writers' Association, marking the publication of Shami's works.
* Starting in 2010, I submitted reports to the UN Human Rights Council on the US (2010, 2015) and on Israel (2012, 2018). My submissions passed review of the UN professional staff and were incorporated in the respective final UN Human Rights Council reports. These were most likely the first ever Human Rights reports, which were based on IT system analysis. The 2010 UN Human Rights Council report on the US summarized my submission, hundreds of pages long, in one sentence: 
"Corruption of the courts and the legal profession and discrimination by law enforcement in California." 
* November 2018 - I was invited to lead a 2.5 hour seminar in a colloquium of law professors from throughout Europe in Goettingen Law School, subject of which was Cyber and Law. My seminar was on Cyber and Law in Israel.
* June 2018 - I received a thank you note from the bureau of Israeli Supreme Court Presiding Justice E. Hayut, after she acted upon my advice, following the 2018 UN Human Rights Council Report. Hayut corrected a feature of the Israeli Supreme Court IT system, which had been introduced in 2002 by then Presiding Justice Aharon Barak (father of the "Israeli Constitutional Revolution"), which had rendered the Israeli Supreme Court incompetent... 
* October 2018 - I was invited for a small closed meeting with senior officers of the Israeli Cyber Security Agency and representatives of various agencies of friendly nations to review the Israeli Cyber Agency Bill (still not enacted!).
* January 2019 - I was invited to participate in a small closed meeting with Assistant Presiding Justice of the Israeli Supreme Court - Justice H. Melcer (then Chair of the Central Election Committee), former heads of the Shin Bet Technological Dept. and the Legal Dept., and chaired by former dean of Hebrew Univ. Law School, Prof. Y. Shani, to review threats to the integrity of the then upcoming Israeli general election.
* August 2020 - I won an appeal in the Supreme Court against the judges in Netanyahu's criminal prosecution, which was reported by notable Atty Avigdor Feldman in Haaretz as "one of the historic events in our justice system".
א' פלדמן "ביבי נתניהו ושביל הפתקים הצהובים" הארץ (27.8.2020)


* 2020 - I was asked by the US State Department, by their own initiative, to contribute a short report on the Israeli justice system.
* December 2023 - my petition against the Israeli Minister of Health, pertaining to the secret agreement with Pfizer corporation to use the Israeli people as guinea pigs in Pfizer's "world lab" human medical experiment of their mRNA product, was reported in the evening news by Kan, the Israeli public broadcasting service.
נ' ראובני "משרד הבריאות מסר לביהמ"ש: ההסכם עם פייזר נעלם" כאן (15.12.2023)

Two opposites
My parents first met in 9th grade, when Ima was ~13 and Robert Zernik was ~14, at the High School affiliated with the Hebrew University - still one of the best schools in Israel.
Ima was sent there by Savta Sara (who had a total of 2 years of education), after graduating with distinction from an orthodox, girls-only school near Me'a Shearim.
My father was sent there after he was kicked out of the Hebrew Gymnasium for academic incompetence and bad conduct.

Ima's attitude regarding shenanigans and frauds
One of my childhood memories is my admission to the Reali school:  50% discount in tuition was a major benefit of Ima's job, and the main reason that she went to teach there. I was going up to 3rd grade. Admission tests were required. Uri and Dror were admitted. I purportedly failed the exam. Ima knew that I was a much better student than them. She interrogated me about every question I was asked (I still remember some of them). I was positive that I provided the correct answers. 
It turned out that I was not given a written test, but was orally examined by a secretary. Apparently no teacher was willing to be part of the scheme. It turned out that management had decided in advance that no one would be admitted to 3rd grade for that year. 
Ima did not give up. She was a young, untenured teacher, appearing as a "Mizrahi" in a school that was headed by a forceful, all German management. She stood up to them and I was admitted. 
Moreover, she did not hesitate to explain it all to a 2nd grader... 
It was the first time that I was exposed to a simulated process, a subject that is still one of my interests to this day.
In later years, she kept her disdain of the school's management. Her protest was expressed in knitting during the never ending teachers' conferences, chaired by the general manager Y. Shapira, regarding his objection. She also bothered to tell me so... 
We got new sweaters every year, all in dark blue - the school uniform color.