2026-10-22
Update for family and friends
Online: https://inproperinla.blogspot.com/2026/10/2026-10-22-update-for-family-and.html
The Haifa Mafia: Judge Revital Baum, Judge Esperanza Alon, Judge Hila Gurevitz, Adv. Rachel Ben-Ari
About the Haifa Mafia
The moniker "Mafia" doesn't mean that any of the figures were indicted or convicted of organized crime-related offenses. It is also impossible. In Israel, judges enjoy effective impunity.
The moniker "Mafia" means that in the Haifa Family Court one may find Indicia of Organized Crime. The Adv. Rachel Ben-Ari—Judge Hila Gurevitz affair, the center of which is the Estate of the late Rivca Shami Zernik z"l, is a prime example.
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Dear family and friends,
I meant to write this update before Rosh Hashanah, but as usual, I fell behind.
The Haifa Mafia are family now!
In general, I am busy with our new relatives, as Mr. Uri Zernik declared them "family" over 2 years ago... the Haifa Mafia.
About a year ago, while talking with Linda, I realized she and others might not even know the basics. Linda seemed to think I was standing in the way of distributing the Estate funds. Obviously, she didn't know that the Zernik family is now in bed with the Mafia, the Haifa Mafia... So here it is:
In June 2024, Mr Uri Zernik and Mr Dror Zernik sued me in the Haifa Family Court... I mean, they didn't really sue me in a real Court; they initiated a fake court action through the Haifa Mafia...
Trashing Rachel Ben-Ari
The most interesting figure in this bunch is Rachel Ben-Ari, who also serves as counsel for Mr. Dror Zernik. She is a public figure, head of an influential 35-lawyer office, 2-term member of the Judicial Election Committee, "close to former Supreme Court President D. Beinisch", General Counsel for the Technion and VERA (Committee of University Heads), former head of the Association for Civil Rights in Israel, Haifa office, a founder and a member of the Judge Haim Cohen Center for Protection of Human Rights, former Chair of the Audit Committee of the Channel 2 News Corp., senior officer of the Israel Bar Association, etc., etc. ...
In law, as in other trades, some say the most important part of running a successful business is knowing which customers not to do business with. I sometimes feel that Rachel Ben-Ari may regret the day that she decided to do business with Mr. Dror Zernik...
She has carefully cultivated her office's image for decades... "90 years of legal excellence." For a while, I have been trashing her reputation. It looks like they did a damage assessment and decided to remain silent, when I tar and feather Ben-Ari... and we are far from done yet...
For example, this past week, I sent mass mailing asking Adv. Yuval Adler, head of the litigation dept. in Ben-Ari's office, questioning his statement:
"Rachel Ben-Ari is one of the most honest persons I have met in my entire life". This funny statement itself was offered as a response for my publications...
Unnamed Person to Yuval:
How are you, Yuval
Recently, I have heard more and more whispers about Rachel Ben-Ari.
There are those who see in her the Haifa version of Effi Naveh,*
And that raises quite a few question marks.
*Naveh - a notoriously corrupt Israel Bar former Chair, and member of the Judicial Election Committee. Was the key actor in the "Sex for Judicial Appointment" scandal...
Yuval Adler to Unnamed Person
Hi,
I take the liberty of stating that I know you a bit, so I am sure you don't trust nonsense someone writes.
We are familiar with the publications of that Zernik, which you apparently received as well.
We decided to do nothing in this matter, since any reader can see the problem lies with the writer alone. Nothing more needs to be said.
By the way, Rachel Ben-Ari is one of the most honest persons I have met in my entire life. Truly, Yuval
The notorious Family Courts
Israel's family courts are notorious. They are not part of the British Mandate legacy, but an original Israeli creation, established by law in 1995 and based on the concept of "Therapeutic Justice." That means closed doors, sealing (publication prohibition), and flexible, non-existent court procedures... It's like they looked up in a history textbook what the elementary safeguards are for the integrity of the courts, and then decided to eliminate them.
What did they think they would be brewing there?
The Family Courts became notoriously corrupt real fast. They are corrupt at a level that I don't believe people in Italy, Spain, France, Germany would have tolerated. But in Israel there is always some national emergency, war, etc, and to top it off, effectively Israeli judges are shielded by impunity as a matter of policy. So the corrupt judges go unbridled.
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Creative writing by Haifa's best
Still, there are nuances. The difference in corruption style between Tel Aviv and Haifa looks somewhat like LA v San Bernardino. Haifa's style of corruption is a bit hillbilly. Mr Dror Zernik fits there perfectly.
This is Mr. Dror Zernik filing in November 2024. He feels uncomfortable that I publish the records... so here are a couple of examples...
Ben Ari and Solomon filed in court Mr. Dror Zernik's request that the 2 scribbled pages be used to replace the assessment by an independent, professional assessor, as provided in the Estate Distribution Agreement.
... .jpeg)
Mr. Dror Zernik also filed in court his argument against the right of inspection, and his complaint of my bad habit of publishing court records...
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On July 10, 2024, Mr. Uri Zernik's new family member, Adv. Yoav Solomon, who has appeared in court for 2.5 years without a valid power of attorney certificate, filed his grievances in court shortly after initiating the action, alleging that I "concealed from the court" that I considered their actions (including Judge Hila Gurevitz's) as Fraud Upon the Court. He did so after I had filed 2 notices to the same effect.
The judge failed to respond to his whining.
Otherwise, Mr. Uri Zernik keeps his writing out of court. It still shines.
Here is creative writing by Mr. Uri Zernik:
Space Odyssey
More and more I tend to think that the inheritance saga was initially planned by Mom and Dad.
They worried about what would happen if the connection between the sons would snap and we
would scatter on our separate ways.
So they created an inheritance that is not financial, but odyssean. They added two wonderful
friends to us in the form of Hali and Yoav, whom we received into the family as a gift.
Already now, as a week passes and I do not receive a letter, I feel some sort of void. What will
happen when we reach the destination? Simply part ways? Food for thought.
Uri
Hillbilly-style corruption in the Haifa Family Court
In this court action, the Haifa Family Court has produced some unique records... For example, Judge Hila Gurevitz has so far ruled to charge me almost NIS 30,000 in "expenses to benefit the State Treasury". What for? Let's say Rachel Ben-Ari filed a motion in court that requires an affidavit signed by Ben-Ari, missing the affidavit, as usual. In response, I argued that the judge should summarily dismiss Ben-Ari's motion and require her to refile with the required affidavit... The judge accepted Ben-Ari's motion without the affidavit and ruled against me, NIS 1,000 in "expenses to benefit the State Treasury," for my lack of trust in the two "veteran, professional advocates," namely Solomon and Ben-Ari.
July 30, 2025, Voucher for payment of "Expenses to benefit the State Treasury" converted into a "Fine with no Beneficiary."
The next day, I received a payment voucher from the Haifa Family Court, the like of which I couldn't imagine three years ago... The office of the clerk notified me that "expenses to benefit the State Treasury" were converted by the office of the clerk into "a fine with no beneficiary," and the voucher showed the funds would go to the bank account of the Court. In contrast, I read the law as requiring that "expenses" of this type be paid to the government through the online Government Payment Service or to the government's Collection and Enforcement Center.
In response, I did nothing at all. I waited for the charges to be transferred to the government's Collection and Enforcement Center for collection... but that never happened...
By the time the "expenses/fines" passed NIS 10,000, the court realized it wasn't getting the expected yield from this case. A senior manager from the office of the clerk issued a Notice that, due to an unknown mishap, the charges didn't go through. She asked the judge to re-issue a decision for the total sum, which the judge naturally did. Then the office of the clerk again issued a voucher for the converted "fine with no beneficiary," and again I didn't pay... Along the way the judge issued various threats against me, related to the payments... However, once the total reached close to NIS 30,000, the judge stopped ruling on additional charges...
In fact, I consider the expenses/fines affair some of the most interesting evidence indicating indicia of Organized Crime in the Haifa Family Court.
In 2013, there was a minor incident when Mr Dror Zernik and the late Rafael Zernik hired a Haifa Mafia actor, Adv. Amos Sadika, who arrived with his teammate, Judge Esperanza Alon. The first communication I got from Sadika was a hillbilly fraud. On March 18, 2013, he sent me two emails, one in the morning and one in the afternoon, each with an attached March 17, 2013, "post-it decision". The 2 decisions were different and conflicting decisions by Esperanza Alon in the same matter. Sadika's message: A was an error. B was the correct, valid decision. The operative outcome of Sadika's actions was that B was a valid and effectual court decision, and I was summoned to appear at an April 4, 2013, court hearing in Haifa in a different court file, not the one in which the 2 decisions were issued.
A
B
And the respective attached decisions.
Obviously, it was an attempt to perpetrate Fraud Upon the Court. Why? One reason was that an honest judge (or an honest businessman in a similar situation) would have included in the amended version a "nunc pro tunc" (e.g., this amended decision replaces the one I issued in error earlier this morning). Another reason was that an honest judge would have ordered the office of the clerk to serve the decisions.
What was one to do? I showed up at the Chief Clerk's office with a written request to certify one of the decisions, "True Copy of the Original," if he so pleased.
Chief Clerk Israel Chen wasn't pleased at all! He refused to certify either decision. So I turned around and left. On the way to the elevator, he ran after me. When he caught up, he said, "You are trying to frame me!" It was getting really bizarre.
Obviously, I didn't show up for the April 4, 2013, hearing. It was clear to me that it was going to be a simulated court hearing. It turned out I was right, since the outcome was the "Not signed yet" Protocol, which, to the best of my knowledge, is a unique creation in Israel's adjudication history. Beyond the "Not signed yet" electronic watermark, the protocol's content is distorted. For example, Mr. Dror Zernik attended the hearing, and indeed, the entire event had been produced for him. However, his name fails to appear among those in attendance; instead, Asa is listed. I am listed with a fake ID number.
I filed a request to correct, for the fun of it... I can't think of a judge who corrected a record under similar circumstances. However, I consider their reactions to requests to correct an important part of the evidence. Esperanza Alon denied my request to correct, reasoning that "a person who is not an attorney wouldn't be able to figure out the mysteries of court procedures."
As of 2024, Mr. Dror Zernik was still complaining that I didn't show up for that hearing... any suggestion that it was all fraud he answers with "you are lying".
As of 2026, the Administration of Courts, with its General Counsel, whom I affectionately call "the Banana Bender," is still busy trying to whitewash this unique record.
P 1 of the "Not signed yet" Protocol - a unique piece of Israeli adjudication.
In 2016, a reputable legal journalist published a leak from a social media "private group' of "leading legal scholars," including Tel Aviv University Family Law Prof. Dafna Hacker, and a retired family judge. Hacker wrote: It's a total jungle in the [family] courts; do anything you can to avoid getting there. Then she analyzed them a la Max Weber, concluding they were not courts at all.
In summer 2016, I was involved in the Joelle Ben Simon affair in the J-m Family Court.
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Joelle Ben Simon's video on Facebook, sending greetings to the Justice Minister,, and a "Draft' court decision.
A single mother, she started a sit-down strike outside Justice Minister Shaked's office, demanding a brief meeting. After 4 days and nights, Shaked invited her for a short meeting, in which Joelle complained about abusive Jerusalem family judges. When I met her a couple of weeks later, she told me that when she left the meeting, she knew they would go after her. So she tried to hide her tracks and disappeared in Tel Aviv. Police found her and brought her to compulsory psychiatric examination in Eitanim Psych Hospital. On the social worker's letter to the District Psychiatrist, a handwritten note says: "Coordinated by Adv. Yael Kotik, Ministry of Justice, cell <>". The District Psychiatrist's warrant includes the same note, typed.
Those who met her during that specific time (I met her a couple of weeks later) said she posed no danger to herself or others. Activists, led by Lory Shem-Tov, rescued her from Eitanim Hospital.
After her release, I offered to help her inspect her court files at the office of the clerk. We arrived, and I helped her fill out the forms. It turned out that she had 22 court files. However, a senior Secretariat officer ruled that she couldn't get a copy of any decision in these court files. They were "Drafts". The decision record in the figure above shows a large electronic watermark 'Draft'. However, the same "Drafts" had been previously served on Joelle at home as valid and enforceable court records.
In the U.S., this type of criminal activity is called "Simulating Court Process" or "Sham Court Process." Many States' penal codes include special sections for this crime. E.g., Texas Penal Code 32.48 - Simulating Legal Process.
In Israel, the legal community denies it. This type of corruption does not exist.
Basically, at least since 2016 (I would argue as early as 2013), corruption in the Family Courts has been well known, but no one has tried to address this blatant corruption to this day.
A track record of an international troublemaker
Corrupt court records used to defraud, such as Joelle Ben Simon's fake court records, are linked to the courts' ICT systems. I was the lead author of the HRA-NGO 2010, 2013, and 2018 submissions on these issues for the UN HRC periodic review [UPR]. The UN HRC professional staff reviewed the HRA-NGO submissions and incorporated them by reference in the final UPR reports.
HRA-NGO in the 2010 UPR report on the U.S.:
HRA-NGO in the 2013 UPR report on Israel:
HRA-NGO in the 2018 UPR report on Israel:
After the 2018 UPR report, I sent a letter to Supreme Court Presiding Justice E. Hayut and suggested a significant change to the Supreme Court's record system. She adopted my suggestion, and her Bureau sent me a thank-you note.
In January 2019, I was invited to a closed meeting with Supreme Court Deputy President Hanan Melcer, who chaired the National Election Commission, to review threats to the integrity of the general election in Israel.
Needless to say, Israel is allegedly in violation of its obligations to its own residents under the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights - to maintain competent courts.
In June 2024, Rachel Ben Ari, a Haifa bigwig, messaged me that she and Yoav Solomon jointly launched the litigation. So I messaged Ben Ari back: as someone who graduated from Tel Aviv University Law School cum laude, can you explain how you jointly launched the litigation when Yoav's client is Plaintiff and your client is Defendant 2?
Oops, she was so eager to get the credit for the hoax that she gave herself away...
Mr Uri Zernik described Solomon as "a straight shooter... and a mensch..." As for the straight shooter and his client, they filed the initial pleading without a power-of-attorney certificate, an affidavit, a probate order, etc. Basically, a defective filing that the clerk's office should never have accepted.
It didn't make sense... 2 attorneys who head big offices, with nearly 90 years of combined practice experience, filed the opening paper without a power-of-attorney certificate?
So I asked them to fix the problem. They wouldn't. Because running a void litigation was the ingenious idea. Only I wasn't supposed to figure it out on day one. So, not long after filing the initial pleading, I sent a notice to Ben-Ari, Solomon, and their clients that "the initial pleading appears as a declaration for all who enter the Court of the intent to conduct simulated court process." Since the Israeli legal community conveniently denies the existence of simulated litigation, I defined it under Texas Penal Code §32.48.
On July 2 and 9, 2024, I also filed notices with the Court to the same effect. Straight shooter Solomon was deeply offended.
On July 10, 2024, Solomon filed his grievance with Judge Hila Gurevitz... I am not sure why, maybe he thought that she didn't understand what I was writing. He wrote that I was "concealing from the Court what I really meant" by "simulating court process." So he offered the judge an explanation in simple Hebrew: I meant that the litigation in the Court was fundamentally fraudulent. The judge did not respond.
