Sunday, June 7, 2015

2015-06-07 ISRAEL: Explosive corruption of the justice system - under "publication prohibition decree"



 







Joseph Zernik's photo.

Black flag is flying over the unlawful gag orders imposed by the courts over their own corruption!

ISRAEL: Explosive corruption of the justice system is cured by gag orders...
News was published last Thursday night that three current judges were jailed in the latest corruption scandal, rocking the Israeli justice system.  It is a first in Israel's 67 year history, where judicial corruption is rampant, but no judge has ever been prosecuted for corruption... A gag order was immediately imposed by the Jerusalem court.  As is the case in the United States, Prior Restraint of the press is prohibited by Israeli law, unless a "clear and present danger" can be shown. However, in practice, the Israeli courts routinely issue gag orders, in what is largely seen as a coordinated effort by the justice system to cover-up its own corruption.



When law enforcement launched an investigation of Alon Hassan, the Ashdod harbor longshoreman's union boss, he warned that he would “bury” those, who try to prosecute him...
http://www.haaretz.com/polopoly_fs/1.395836.1380556406!/image/2377383272.jpg_gen/derivatives/landscape_640/2377383272.jpg
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OccupyTLV, June 7 - in what is described a "dramatic development" in the most recent corruption scandal rocking the Israeli justice system, three current judges were apparently jailed last Thursday, as part of a ring, which fixed court cases. [i] However, the news was almost immediately erased from news sites, and only cryptic headlines remain, following the imposition of a "publication prohibition decree" by the Jerusalem court. [ii]
As is the case in the United States, Prior Restraint of the press is prohibited by Israeli law, unless a "clear and present danger" can be shown. Regardless, the Israeli courts routinely issue gag orders, in what is largely seen as a coordinated efforts by the justice system to cover-up its own corruption.
Such gag orders often also prohibit the publication of the fact that a gag order was entered... [iii] In the current incident, Hebrew news media published the fact that a gag order was rendered, but most English language media appear to have avoided mentioning that fact either, apparently out of habitual, precautionary self-censorship...
The core of the most recent corruption scandal (the Ronel Fisher- Eran Malka - Ruth David affair) are claims of bribing by crime suspects of top Israel Police brass, brokered by top attorneys.
The scandal exploded in early May, when Ashdod harbor Longshoreman's Union boss Alon Hassan, then under corruption investigation, documented the transfer of a suitcase full of cash to his Attorney Ronel Fisher. Hassan claims that the cash was intended for bribing top police officers, and he apparently conducted some secret recordings to document his claims. The investigation quickly expanded. Former Israel Police officer Eran Malka, of the corruption/organized crime investigation unit (Lahav 433) entered a plea bargain agreement and apparently reported a series of other similar cases. Menashe Arbiv, commander of Lahav 433 (“the Israeli FBI”) has recently resigned, after evidence emerged that he had been bribed by Rabbi Pinto in another landmark corruption scandal [iv].
Both Ronel Fisher and his law-firm partner Ruth David were jailed. Several of their employees also entered plea bargain agreements, several other top Israel Police brass were mentioned as suspects, and finally, last Thursday judges were implicated as well. [v]
The scandal was immediately recognized as a new high mark in the corruption tide of recent years, since Ruth David is the former Tel-Aviv District Attorney, a key position in the Israeli justice system. Her arrest was an unprecedented event. She collapsed in court, in what media claimed was a faked fainting, intended to land her in a hospital bed instead of a jail cell.
The head of Israel Police National Fraud Investigations Unit Efraim Bracha was also mentioned as a suspect in this new scandal.  He has previously featured as a central figure also in the Rabbi Pinto scandal, where US Attorney General Loretta Lynch issued a letter supporting Rabbi Pinto's allegations of bribing Bracha. However, Bracha was cleared by the Israeli courts of any wrongdoing in the Rabbi Pinto scandal, in what is largely seen as another case of the justice system covering up its own corruption... Unconfirmed news last Thursday, prior to the imposition of the gag order, claimed that several other top Israel Police brass were suspects in the current scandal as well.
Beyond Longshoreman's Union boss Hassan, some of the suspect clients in the current scandal are large contractors and crime figures under income tax and other crime investigations, as well as city mayors under corruption investigations.
As was the case in previous scandals, it appears that effort is already under way to minimize the charges or entirely clear two of the main figures: Efraim Bracha and Ruth David. These two individuals were the most senior justice system officers in a long list of corruption investigations over the past couple of decades, including internal investigations of justice system itself. Obviously, their involvement in the current scandal must raise serious doubts regarding integrity of all such previous corruption investigations. As a paraphrase on the old adage, a recent Haaretz daily headline read: "Who will investigate the investigators' investigators?" [vi]
Labor party Chairman, Yitzhak Herzog, an attorney himself, commented last Friday that the current scandal is the "Day of Atonement" for the Israeli justice system.
However, Chief State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan and others tried to contain the damage, claiming that there was no evidence of Ruth David's corruption during her tenure as Tel-Aviv District Attorney. Obviously, such claims are self-serving and lacking in credibility: The same people, who are supposed to investigate Ruth David's conduct during her tenure as Tel-Aviv District Attorney, are the ones, whose interest is to cover it up.
Particularly interesting in this context is a 2013 opinion piece by Attorney Ronel Fisher, "No to Shai Nitzan". In it, Fisher calls for the rejection of Shai Nitzan's nomination for Chief State Prosecutor. The reason: Nitzan's track-record in covering-up criminality by government officials... [vii]
Evidence of Ruth David's corruption during her tenure as Tel-Aviv District Attorney comes from various sources, one of the most notable - her cover up of the Tax Authority corruption scandal, a case, which was described by then former Attorney General Menahem Mazuz as the closest to organized crime in high government offices. [viii]
The recent evidence of Officer Efraim Bracha's corruption also calls for new reading into old news, e.g., a case where Bracha "negligently" exposed a criminal, who apparently cooperated with police. [ix] There were at least a couple of other key witnesses in organized crime cases, who were negligently allowed to be murdered.
By far the largest issue, always lurking in the background, is the cover-up in Prime Minister Rabin's assassination investigation. [x] Ruth David was the senior Attorney General officer on the case, and Efraim Bracha acted, according to media, as the head of the Israel Police Special Investigation Team. However, Bracha's name fails to appear in the appointment record of the Special Investigation Team... [xi] Bracha and David's role in the cover-up in the Rabin assassination investigation may have matched them partners in crime, while rendering them untouchable at the same time.
The case documents again that the Rabin assassination was a critical event relative to the nature of the Israeli regime. While it was possibly inspired by Israeli-Palestinian politics, it deeply involved the Shin-Bet, and its cover-up entailed irreversible corruption of the justice system. [xii]
Israel is today recognized as one of the most corrupt OECD nations, and Both the UN and OECD have recently conducted investigations into government corruption in Israel. [xiii] A 2009 report by US Ambassador to Israel, James Cunningham, published by Wikileaks, asks, "Israel - the promised land for organized crime?" Cunningham describes the merger of government agencies and organized crime in Israel. [xiv] With the occupation of Palestine nearing its 50th anniversary, the prophecy of the late Yeshayahu Leibowitz appears to have been fulfilled – that the occupation would lead to total corruption of the State of Israel. [xv]
LINKS:
ii 2015-06-04 Gag Order on Huge Development in Corruption Case, Arutz Shav
http://www.israelnationalnews.com/News/News.aspx/196316#.VXRqWby1k8o
v 2015-06-05 Significant development in Ronel Fisher case may affect senior figure in affair, Haaretz
2015-05-25 Top Israeli traffic cop questioned in Fisher bribery probe, Haaretz 
2015-05-14 Former Tel Aviv prosecutor, ex-cop and lawyer indicted for graft, Haaretz
2015-05-14  Ex-Ashdod Port union chief's indictment delayed due to probe against his lawyer, Haaretz
2015-05-14 Police corruption unit takes over high-profile bribery investigation, Haaretz
2015-05-12 Ex-officer won’t turn state’s witness in Fisher bribery case, Haaretz
vi 2015-05-15 Who will investigate the investigators' investigators?. Haaretz
vii 2013-11-10 Fisher, R, "No to Shai Nitzan", Haaretz [Hebrew]
http://www.haaretz.co.il/opinions/.premium-1.2161794
viii 2014-11-09 Zernik, J, "Israeli Ombudsman refuses to accept whistle-blower complaint against PM Netanyahu - smuggling, murder of a "source" ", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Israeli-Ombudsman-refuses-by-Joseph-Zernik-Israel_Judicial-Corruption_Netanyahu_Whistleblowers-141109-518.html
2014-09-29 Zernik, J, "ISRAEL: Attorneys from a non-existent law-firm appeared as Public Defenders for whistle-blower Rafi Rotem...", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/ISRAEL-Attorneys-from-a-n-by-Joseph-Zernik-Israel_Judicial-Corruption_Whistleblowing-140929-463.html
ix 2014-02-19 State paid enormous compensation to a criminal for Efraim Bracha's negligence, Globes
http://www.globes.co.il/news/article.aspx?did=1000918673
xi 1995-11-27 Appointment Record of the Israel Police Rabin Assassination Special Investigation Team, Rotter Document Discovery Forum, #7726
http://rotter.net/cgi-bin/forum/dcboard.cgi?az=printer_format&om=7726&forum=gil 
xii 2013-01-26 Zernik, J, "ISRAEL: Nation hijacked by a Shin-Bet Judiciary Gang", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/ISRAEL-Nation-hijacked-by-by-Joseph-Zernik-Corruption_Fraud_Integrity_Judges-131026-653.html
xiii 2014-12-03 Israel slips in OECD corruption index, Globes
http://www.globes.co.il/en/article-israel-slips-in-oecd-corruption-index-1000990862
xiv 2009-05-15 Viewing cable 09TELAVIV1098, ISRAEL: A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANIZED CRIME?, Wikileaks
https://wikileaks.org/cable/2009/05/09TELAVIV1098.html
xv 2014-10-09 Hannibal protocol, Yeshayahu Leibowitz, and the Jewish state, OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Hannibal-protocol-Yeshaya-by-Joseph-Zernik-Israel_Israeli-Attacks-On-Gaza_Judaism-Jewish-141009-685.html
2015-03-21 Zernik, J, "Holyland II: Where are Judge Rosen's Verdict and Sentence records of former PM Olmert corruption? ", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Holyland-II-Where-are-Jud-by-Joseph-Zernik-Bribery-Influence-Peddling_Israel_Judicial-Corruption-150321-607.html 
2014-05-17 Zernik, J, "Tel Aviv courtroom drama exposes new evidence of organized crime in highest levels of government in Israel", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Tel-Aviv-courtroom-drama-e-by-Joseph-Zernik-Corporate-Corruption-Crime_Israel_Judiciary-Corruption-Crime_WHITE-COLLAR-CRIMES-140517-48.html
2012-09-24 Zernik, J, "Large-scale fraud in the courts of the State of Israel, peer-reviewed by international computing experts", OpEdNews.com
http://www.opednews.com/articles/Large-scale-fraud-in-the-c-by-Joseph-Zernik-120922-330.html




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