Half-Billion-Dollar Industry Largely Staffed By Sex Slaves, by Dr. Martin Brass, Soldier of Fortune, October 2002, p. 32
"Israel prides itself as a 'beacon of light,' paving an enlightened path for democracy and human rights in a region of dictators, theocracies, tyrants and human rights abusers. In July 2001, the U.S. State Department placed Israel on a 'third tier' list of countries, or worst offenders, of Traffickers in Persons. In the shadows of the 'beacon of light' lurks a brutal and inhumane abuse - trafficking of women and children for the sex-slave trade. Israel was on the same list as Saudi Arabia, Lebanon, Sudan, Yugoslavia, Bahrain, Greece, Pakistan, Qatar, Turkey, the United Arab Emirates and 12 others ... 'Elderly Jewish women in the Ukraine often lure the girls into the trade,' Specter said. Or, the girls are recruited through 'an ad or an unexpected meeting on the street, with a proposition to work abroad as a maid, secretary, showgirl, nanny or waitress.' A typical ad, writes Walter Zalisko, 24-year police veteran, authority on Russian organized crime in New Jersey and New York, seeks '... pretty woman, under age 40, slender, educated, to work in modern office setting; $600/month; documents and transportation provided.'"

Israel Fears More Rights Challenges in Europe,
Haaretz [Israeli newspaper], July 26, 2001
"The [Israeli] Foreign Ministry has begun 'mapping' the criminal justice systems of European countries, trying to identify 'problematic states' where prominent officials in the Israeli security services might face legal action because of wide-ranging local authority to prosecute suspected human rights violations. Sources in the Foreign Ministry warned that prominent IDF and Shin Bet security service officers, who have appeared in the press in connection with their past or present jobs, might be subject to prosecution in some European countries. The issue first arose with a complaint to the Belgian court system against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, for alleged responsibility for massacres in the Sabra and Chatila refugee camps in Beirut during Israel's 1982 invasion of Lebanon. This was closely followed by complaints from Danish parliamentary and human rights groups against Carmi Gillon, the former Shin Bet chief recently appointed ambassador to Denmark. Several high-ranking security officers, both past and present, have recently asked the ministry whether they might face difficulties traveling through Europe."

Israel Extradition Law Offers Help to Alleged Criminals.
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, February 27, 1998
"Are Israelis committing crimes in the United States and fleeing home to avoid prosecution? In some cases, yes. But recent developments suggest that while these alleged criminals can run, they can't necessarily hide. The issue emerged in September, when a Maryland teenager claimed Israeli citizenship in an effort to avoid a murder trial in the United States. The case of Samuel Sheinbein came before the Israeli courts this week as Israeli officials, seeking to comply with a U.S. request for extradition, argued that despite the youth's claim, he is not an Israeli citizen. While Sheinbein's case is extreme, his flight from U.S. prosecutors has focused some unwanted attention on Israel's extradition policy. Like most European countries and many South American nations, Israel does not extradite its citizens. But it does allow prosecutions in its own courts for crimes committed abroad. But the fear of prosecution at home has not stopped at least a half-dozen Israelis from fleeing the United States in recent months. The recent trend has elicited much concern among U.S. law-enforcement personnel and prosecutors, who fear that Israeli criminals will use the Jewish state as a refuge ... Until 1977, there was an extradition treaty between the United States and Israel. But an Israeli law, passed in 1977 and intended to protect Israelis from legal actions abroad motivated by anti-Semitism, superseded that treaty, according to an Israeli official in Washington. Since then, the Israeli law barring extradition of its citizens has come under fire in the United States. The Sheinbein case reopened the issue, resulting in congressional pressure not only to extradite Sheinbein, but also to change the law to prevent similar situations in the future."

Fit to Be Tried. But Where? Jerusalem Post, October 19, 1997
"Samuel [Sheinbein, is] the 17-year-old Maryland youth suspected of a brutal slaying and now trying to turn Israel into his land of refuge. According to the 1978 [Israeli] law, passed by Menachem Begin's government, Israeli citizens cannot be extradited for crimes they allegedly committed abroad. Instead, the bill authorized Israeli courts to try such persons here. The impetus for the bill was the case of Reuven Pesahovitz, an Israeli accused by the Swiss of embezzlement and fraud of more than 10m. Swiss francs. Prime minister Begin, then serving also as justice minister, refused to extradite Pesahovitz. Meretz MK Amnon Rubinstein, formerly the dean of Tel Aviv University's Law Faculty, said that Begin's pushing of this legislation was part of his philosophy of not wanting to turn Jews over to non-Jews, because of a concern that they would not get a fair trial. At the time that the law was enacted, another high-profile extradition case, involving Shmuel Flatto-Sharon, was stirring passions in the country. Flatto-Sharon was accused of embezzlement and fraud by France which was seeking his extradition."

Former Jewish Agency Chief Fined $13,000 on Fraud Charges. Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, May 17, 1996
"Former Jewish Agency for Israel chairman Simcha Dinitz has been fined approximately $13,000 after being found guilty of billing the agency for charges on a personal credit card. In announcing the fine, a Jerusalem district court judge stressed the seriousness of the offenses, which were fraud and breach of trust. At the same time, he rejected the prosecution's request for a prison term."

Israeli President Faces Criminal Investigation. The Independent [Great Britain], January 21, 2000
"Israel's head of state, Ezer Weizman, became the first President in the nation's 52-year history to be the subject of a criminal inquiry yesterday, for accepting large sums of cash from a reclusive French millionaire while serving in parliament and as a minister. The attorney-general told police to investigate the activities of Mr Weizman, 75, after the Justice Ministry announced it had new evidence that may link him with the business interests of the textile magnate Edouard Saroussi in Israel in the early 1980s. The launch of a police inquiry, in which the tax authorities will also play a role, prompted fresh demands for the resignation of Mr Weizman, whose uncle, Chaim Weizmann, was Israel's first president and who has been a flamboyant and outspoken fixture on the Israeli political scene for decades."

Scandal Probe Paralyzes Israel. The Standard-Times, April 18, 1997
"Defiant in the face of an influence-peddling scandal, Benjamin Netanyahu vowed yesterday to hang tough through calls for his resignation. 'We're not going anywhere,' he told supporters. The government, and efforts to revive the peace process, have virtually stopped while Israelis wait to find out whether prosecutors will follow police advice and charge the prime minister with fraud and breach of trust ... The scandal stems from Mr. Netanyahu's decision in January to appoint Jerusalem lawyer Roni Bar-On as attorney general. Mr. Bar-On resigned after a day in office amid a storm of criticism that he was unqualified. Days later, Israel TV alleged that the appointment was part of a conspiracy by senior officials who expected Mr. Bar-On to end the corruption trial of Aryeh Deri, head of the Shas religious party."

Military Industry Rocked by Scandal.
Jewish Bulletin of Northern California, March 15, 1996
"Three Israeli military equipment dealers were arrested recently amid allegations of a multimillion dollar bribery and fraud case involving private contractors, the Defense Ministry, and Israel's air force. Sources close to the case said more arrests are expected of ministry officials and army officers."

Sir George Martin Gets Back 6 of 7 Stolen Scores.
Jerusalem Post, June 6, 1999
"In an incident that Israel Festival organizers would soon like to forget, famed Beatle's producer Sir George Martin had seven original scores stolen during his first concert at the Jerusalem International Convention Center. The original orchestrations were the only copies Martin brought with him, and their absence put his second performance of the festival in jeopardy. Two of the scores were discovered when a woman approached Martin after the concert and asked him to sign the sheets of music she had taken during intermission. One witness noted the woman's shock as Martin displayed his unhappiness. Not until Sir George's producer Zev Eizik ran an advertisement on Israel Radio pleading that Martin would be unable to continue his tour unless the sheets were returned, did three people come forward and give back four more scores. Martin's monumental orchestration Golden Slumber is still missing."

Keeping the Election Kosher. Jerusalem Post, May 24, 1999
"'We are taking all possible precautions against any fraud at the polls. We're manning every single polling station,' Alkeslassy said, and additional volunteers will be sent to polling stations that have been problematic in the past. He wouldn't specify which ones, explaining that he didn't want to apportion blame, since 'most people are fine, it's just some activists who cross the line.' Eli Pelles, an 18-year-old Meretz activist from Jerusalem who used to be haredi [ultra-Orthodox], feels differently. Election fraud is rampant in the haredi community, he charged. It is considered normal to take the ID cards of people who have died or are away and vote in their place, he said. 'I spoke to haredim who are friends of mine and they said to me, 'We all know that happens, but why did you go and tell the press?' In the 1996 elections, when Pelles was not only haredi but also underage, he voted three times at three different polling places. After he became secular, Pelles switched his support to Meretz because of its stance on religious issues. He has addressed several of its seminars on how to spot people who are voting illegally ... The kibbutzniks, not the haredim, are the ones stuffing the ballot boxes, according to Yitzhak Pendruc, a UTJ election day coordinator."

Israeli Life. Meat in the Deri Case? Hadassah
"His story has all the elements of Greek tragedy. A young man rises from a poor Sefardic family to transform Israeli society. He creates Shas, and through his brilliant maneuvering this ultra-Orthodox political party becomes a force to be reckoned with; by tipping the scales it can create or destroy ever-fragile coalition governments. But as with all tragic heroes, the very pride and confidence that made him might also be destroying him. Since 1990 Aryeh Deri, former Minister of the Interior, has been on trial for fraud, violating the public trust and embezzling government funds. A lightning rod whose fate enmeshes the whole society, Deri has embroiled Israel's entire political elite in his trial, and it is feared he may bring down the government. The investigation into Ronnie Bar-On's short-lived tenure as attorney general is only the last in a series of Deri-connected scandals, but this time it has sullied the reputation of the prime minister himself."

Ministry Never Pressed Charges Against Yeshiva Fraud.
Haaretz, August 21, 2001
"The Religious Affairs Ministry awarded NIS 11 million to two fictitious Be'er Sheva yeshivas in the past seven years, but never went to police over the fraud after comptrollers uncovered it. The two yeshivas, run by Be'er Sheva residents Yeshua Okanin and Yisrael Shneor, claimed they had 270 pupils. It was the worst of many fraud cases uncovered in a report by the treasury on yeshiva claims in 2000 ... Two weeks ago Ha'aretz reported on the deputy general accountant Yossi Strauss' treasury report on allocations to yeshivas. Strauss' report summarized the findings of a detailed investigation that revealed systematic whitewashing of fraudulent reporting during 2000 by the Religious Affairs Ministry. This enabled fraudulent reporting to continue and prevented any punishment of the yeshivas or their managers. The treasury estimates that the coverup cost the state NIS 85 million [about $30 million] a year."

The Crisis at the Hebrew National Archives "Gnazim," The Mendele Review: Yiddish Literature and Language (A Companion to Mendele -- Vol. 05.014, November 5, 2001
"The 'Gnazim' archives of the Hebrew Writers' Association is presently closed to the public due to a labor dispute. (2) The six 'Gnazim' employees (like the other ten employees of the Association) have not received salaries for many months. The elected officers of the Association have been accused by other members of misusing funds and of other irregularities -- internal disputes are not a rare phenomenon in the Writers' Association. The Histadrut workers' federation has entered the fray to protect the employees' rights. While the inner conflicts rage, the work of the national institution responsible for the preservation and cataloging of the letters and manuscripts of generations of writers and thinkers is frozen. If paralysis continues long enough, permanent damage may result and the nation as a whole will suffer a palpable cultural loss ... As lovers of Yiddish, we are interested parties. The papers of 730 writers -- amounting to over six million items -- are held in the 'Gnazim' archives. Among these many items are thousands and thousands which are either written in Yiddish, are written by a writer who wrote Yiddish, or concern a Yiddish-related subject. In short, 'Gnazim' is a vital station on the map of the Yiddish researcher."

Israelis Confess to Internet Attack,
Excite (from Associated Press), December 8, 2001
"Four Israeli youths in police custody have admitted to creating and spreading the computer worm 'Goner' by e-mail to attack hundreds of users around the world, police said Saturday. Police arrested the high school students, ages 15 and 16, from the northern city of Nahariya on Friday, said Meir Zohar, the head of the police computer crime squad. The Internet worm first spread early this month to computers in Europe, especially in France and Germany. American anti-virus companies have reported more than 400 cases of Goner attacks worldwide. An Internet worm can spread to other computers on its own."

Teachers' Union Head Obtained Degrees By Fraud,
Jerusalem Post, December 11, 2001
"Histadrut Teachers Union head Avraham Ben-Shabbat and his deputy, Uri Groman, were placed under 14 days' house arrest by Tel Aviv District Court yesterday after both admitted to fraudulently obtaining academic degrees, then using them to receive higher pay. The two posted NIS 100,000 bail apiece. Their arrests were a part of an unfolding scandal surrounding ISE Co., which operated extensions of Latvia and Burlington universities here, and sold degrees for $5,000 each without demanding any academic effort. The company provided academic papers for its 'students' and even awarded grades. Its main clients were Civil Service workers, who receive wage incentives for continuing their education and earning advanced degrees. Police believe that, over the past two years, ISE's operations have cost the public payroll millions of shekels."

Romania Probes Israeli Adoption Agency Link to Organ Trafficking,
Haaretz, December 13, 2001
"Romanian authorities are looking into possible links between Israeli adoption agencies and an illegal global conspiracy to sell organs for transplants. The Romanian Embassy in Israel has asked for, and received from the Labor and Social Affairs Ministry, a list of all children born in Romania who have been brought to Israel for adoption in recent years. The Romanian officials are trying to ascertain if all such children arrived in Israel with all organs in their bodies."

Another Mossad Scandal Chips Away at Agency's Credibility,
CNN, December 6, 1997
"The latest scandal to rock Israel's Mossad spy agency involves allegations that an agent fabricated information that may have skewed Israeli assessments of Syria's political and military intentions. It is being called the 'Gil Affair,' named after Yehuda Gil, 63, who was identified on Saturday as the Israeli Mossad agent who allegedly received some $200,000 for passing along bogus intelligence reports on Syria. The charges brought against Gil include spying and fraud, Israel Radio said quoting a charge sheet. Bit by bit, Israelis have been reading between the lines in newspapers squeezed by censorship about what is being called 'the mother of all intelligence scandals' ... It was revealed on Saturday that Gil was a former general-secretary in a far-right political party that advocates expelling Palestinians from the West Bank and Gaza. The disclosure that he was affiliated in 1992 with the ultra right-wing Moledet party has prompted speculation that his concocted reports may have been aimed at discouraging Israeli leaders from making peace with Arab partners."

Think Again: Presumed Guilty, Jerusalem Post, November 30, 2000
"The family of Alastair Sinclair, a Scottish tourist, who, hanged himself in an Israeli jail, was forced to bring suit for the return of missing body parts. University of Glasgow pathologists, who did an autopsy at the request of Sinclair's family, found that it had been returned without a heart (which they suspect was used for a transplant) and without the crucial bone needed to confirm the claim that he died from hanging."

Credit Lyonnais Stops Taking Israeli Checks, Haaretz, January 20, 2002
"French bank, Credit Lyonnais, has decided to stop accepting checks from correspondent banks in Israel and other companies on the blacklist of the Financial Action Task Force on Money Laundering (FATF). Earlier this week, another French bank, Societe Generale, announced that it was suspending the processing of checks from correspondent Israeli banks until the investigation into a Franco-Israeli money laundering affair was cleared up. Banking industry sources believe that other French banks may follow suit, leading to possible difficulties in bilateral trade. Israel is on the blacklist of 19 countries and territories considered particularly problematic when it comes to the supervision of money-laundering activities. The money-laundering affair has caused a storm in France and two senior executives at Societe Generale have been arrested. Several Israeli banks are involved, including Leumi, Israel Discount Bank and the First International Bank of Israel."

Retired Israeli General Investigated for Embezzling $10 Million in U.S. Aid Funds, Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, Jan/Feb 1997
"A retired Israeli general is under investigation for allegedly embezzling an estimated $10 million of U.S. foreign military aid. Brig. Gen. (res.) Alex Eyal, a former head of naval procurement in Israel’s Ministry of Defense, allegedly overcharged Israel’s U.S. foreign military aid account in a contract for Panther helicopters supplied to the Israeli navy by the American Eurocopter Corporation (AEC), a wholly-owned U.S. subsidiary of the Eurocopter France firm ... Perhaps the most disturbing aspect of the case to both American and Israeli officials is that this is not the first time America’s generous foreign aid relationship with Israel has been abused. In 1991, retired Israeli general Rami Dotan was indicted for embezzling some $40 million in U.S. foreign military aid with the assistance of Herbert Steindler, an official of the American Pratt & Whitney aircraft engine manufacturer. Dotan was imprisoned for his actions, and in July 1992 General Electric paid $59 million in civil damages and $9.5 million in criminal penalties in a settlement with the U.S. Department of Justice."

Background. Israeli Soccer Under Threat,
Haaretz [Israel], May 8, 2002
"Asked in late February whether he believed that his referees were "clean," the head of the soccer Referees' Association, Arye Zeif, said he trusted 90 percent of the referees. The legal adviser of the Israel Football Association (IFA), Shalom Ibn-Ezra, hurried to correct Zeif, saying that until it was proved otherwise, 100 percent of the referees were above any suspicion of involvement in match-fixing. Zeif agreed. If we rely on Zeif's original statement, then there is no justification for holding soccer matches in Israel. On Monday, Zeif's words echoed eerily when police arrested four referees for allegedly taking money in exchange for fixing matches. On Tuesday, a fifth referee was arrested. Four months ago, Army Radio's sports editor, Niv Ruskin, revealed information regarding the involvement of referees in rigging matches. At the time, the IFA considered suing Ruskin. The police, however, took the report seriously. Senior figures in the Israel Fraud Squad convinced Ruskin not to publicize any names. And, ever since, they have been involved in trying to verify the allegations. Police discovered large amounts of foreign currency in raids carried out on the homes of some of the suspects. The police also have a list of suspects who are not referees, but are known to be involved in running illegal gambling. Some of them have a sporting past ... There is sufficient evidence floating around to cast a shadow over the viability of Israeli soccer. It is important that Vilnai and Shalom move quickly, because after the next criminal fiasco, there will be nothing left of Israeli soccer to save."

Safed mayor jailed for accepting bribes,
Jerusalem Post (Israel), November 5, 2002
"Safed Mayor Oded Hameiri was remanded to custody for three days on Monday on suspicion of accepting bribes, fraud, and breach of the public trust, the Itim news agency reported."

Benizri quizzed by police,
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 16, 2002
"[Israeli] Labor and Social Affairs Minister Shlomo Benizri (Shas) was questioned yesterday for eight hours by officers from the National Fraud Squad in Bat Yam, over allegations that he received bribes from Jerusalem-based contractor Moshe Sela and his wife Edna. The Selas were questioned in February over allegations that they afforded Benizri personal favors and transferred money to his patron, Rabbi Reuven Elbaz, in exchange for classified information from the Employment Service that enabled Sela to get licenses for foreign workers. According to police, Sela used this inside information to bring a greater number of foreign workers into Israel than is permitted by law. Sela, a construction contractor, provides foreign laborers to construction companies on a commission basis."

Officer charged with threatening to rape Ze'evi murder suspect,
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 21, 2002
"Military prosecution filed an indictment at the central command military court Sunday charging a military police officer with threatening to rape a detainee suspected of involvement in the assassination of former Tourism Minister Rehavam Ze'evi unless he undressed for a body search. The officer is also charged with threatening inmates, behavior unbecoming for a military officer, and for violating the limits of his authority. The indictment was submitted to the court as a result of a complaint filed about five months ago by the Public Committee Against Torture at the offices of Attorney-General Elyakim Rubinstein as well as with the head of the military police investigation unit, Brigadier General Yoram Tzahor. The detainee, Assad Haimuna, told attorney Allegra Pachko from the Public Committee Against Torture that on April 28 this year, after being brought to the Ofer detention center pending trial at the Beit El military court in the West Bank, he asked his accompanying officer for permission to use the bathroom. he said that he was then taken behind the medical clinic at the Ofer center, where the officer beat him, fracturing his arm."

Israeli branch of British university in fake degree affair,
Ha'aretz (Israel), October 31, 2002
"The Israeli branch of the University of Humberside and Lincolnshire is suspected of handing out fake degrees, the third such case in Israel. The University was operating in Israel for about five years, with lecturers sent over from Britain. It ceased teaching around three years ago, and is now suspected of granting fake degrees in education. The police have begun investigating the case. Local branches of Burlington College of Vermont and the University of Latvia have also been involved in similar scandals ... [The government decision not recognize Israeli University of Latvia degrees] applies to many hundreds of security forces personnel, policemen, jail wardens and civil servants."

Police investigate new Israeli Defence Minister over war crimes,
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), November 2, 2002
"Lieutenant-General Shaul Mofaz, named as Israeli Defence Minister by the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, is under investigation by British police for alleged war crimes in the occupied territories. The appointment of General Mofaz, a former army chief of staff, to such a key post has confirmed suspicions that Mr Sharon would lurch further to the right after the Labour Party walked out of the coalition government on Wednesday. The Palestinian leader, Yasser Arafat, described the appointment as a further blow to hopes for peace and warned it would lead to an Israeli military escalation."

Israelis fear war crimes arrests,
Guardian (UK), November 12, 2002
"The Israeli government has ordered an urgent assessment of whether its politicians and soldiers could face arrest and trial for war crimes while travelling abroad. The move follows a report by the justice ministry that singled out Britain, Spain and Belgium as the most likely to prosecute Israeli officials who breach international law. But the government fears there is a growing trend towards global justice that could see Israelis effectively barred from visiting a host of states. 'We are building a map of all those countries that might give us a headache,' said Ra'anan Gissin, spokesman for the Israeli prime minister, Ariel Sharon."

PM vows probe into claim Ginossar ran Arafat's Swiss bank account,
Ha'aretz, December 6, 2002
"Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said Thursday that a full investigation into allegations that former senior Shin Bet official Yossi Ginossar was responsible for managing a Swiss bank account belonging to Palestinian Authority Chairman Yasser Arafat and PA financial advisor Mohammed Rashid was already underway. The allegation was made by the Ma'ariv daily in its Thursday edition. The funds in the account were not defined as belonging to Arafat and Rashid, but as 'monies of the Palestinian people.' According to the report, Ginossar and his business partner Ezrad Lev transferred some $300 million in funds from the Lombard Odier bank account to unknown destinations during the first year of the current intifada. Ginossar received handsome commissions for his services, the report said, and in return, he funneled money to Rashid via fictitious companies that were set up. The former Shin Bet official responded to the report by saying that all of his business activities were legal and that he had filed all the necessary reports to the relevant authorities." FURTHER CONTEXT TO THIS STORY: By 1993, Yassar Arafat had a French Jew, Gabriel Banon, as his peoples' chief economic advisor. Banon was once a 'close advisor' to former French prime minister George Pompidou. Banon also claims to have done 'favors' for presidents Gerald Ford, George Bush, and Ronald Reagan [BERLEY, M., 6-22-96] Stanley Cohen was even the lawyer in 1995 for "senior Hamas official" Moussa Mohammad Abu Marzook, who was jailed in New York City. 'All the Israeli press,' Cohen said, 'wants to know how a Jew can represent the head of Hamas. I ask them, 'How can a Jew NOT represent the head of Hamas?' [WALKER, R., 9-11-95]

FBI: Hacker stole 80,000 credit cards,
CNN, December 9, 2002
"Israeli police, aided by the FBI, arrested an Israeli suspected of hacking into computers of a U.S.-based electronics company and stealing personal information, including the credit card numbers of some 80,000 customers, according to court document released Sunday. David Sternberg, 24, of the port city of Haifa, was arrested last week while driving in a stolen car, police said. The FBI notified the Israelis he was wanted in 2000 and police began searching for him in 2001, according to the transcript of his detention hearing."

Notorious brothers brush aside scandal and crimes in race for power, Questions of character matter little as Israeli political parties jostle for position in the elections,
Sydney Morning Herald (Australia), December 14, 2002
"The next Israeli parliament is shaping up as a rogues gallery, the last refuge for scoundrels clinging to public power. That is the picture that emerged when the political factions submitted their candidates for next month's elections. The ability of some figures to survive scandal and intrigue in the name of 'democracy' is perhaps best illustrated by the Yatom brothers. Ehud Yatom, a self-confessed murderer of Palestinians in custody, was barred from becoming parliament's sergeant-at-arms but there is no legal impediment to him becoming an MP for the ruling Likud party. His older brother, Danny, a former head of the Israeli spy agency Mossad who made headlines when he organised a bungled assassination attempt in Jordan, is set to become a Labour Party MP. Of the two, Ehud, 54, is remembered for his role as a member of Shin Bet, Israel's secret police, in what became known as the Bus 300 affair, involving four Palestinians who hijacked a passenger bus in 1984. After he retired from the agency in 1996 he admitted in an interview that he killed two of the surviving Palestinian terrorists, who had been taken into custody. 'I smashed their skulls, on orders of [the then Shin-Bet chief] Avarham Shalom, and I'm proud of everything I've done,' the newspaper Yediot Ahronot quoted him as saying. He later denied having made the statement but few doubted that he had been quoted correctly ... Danny Yatom has also been prone to scandal. He resigned as head of Mossad in 1997, after he ordered the assassination of the Hamas leader Khaled Mashaal in the Jordanian capital, Amman. Mr Mashaal survived the attempt to kill him with a lethal injection in a busy street. Two of the Israeli agents involved in the operation were caught by Jordanian security forces, and Israel only secured their release by agreeing to release Sheikh Ahmed Yassin, the then spiritual leader and founder of Hamas, from an Israeli prison. But Danny Yatom survived the embarrassing affair and later became security adviser to the then Israeli prime minister, Ehud Barak, who lost power to Mr Sharon last year. This week he secured the safe 12th spot on the Labour Party ticket, which, according to recent opinion polls, will guarantee him a place in the next parliament ... If, as the opinion polls suggest, Israel is moving to the right, other controversial names will soon surface. One of them is Baruch Marzel, who has the No 2 spot on Michael Klenier's right-wing Herut list. A discipline of the late Rabbi Meir Kahane, who formed the now outlawed anti-Arab Kach movement, he is now confined to Jerusalem under a court order. The Kach organisation was banned after the 1994 massacre of 29 Muslims in the divided West Bank town of Hebron by a Jewish settler, Baruch Goldstein. After the massacre Mr Marzel, a resident of the Jewish enclave in Hebron, was placed under administrative detention for nearly three years."

Planning To Move? - Be Careful Whom You Hire,
by Dan Benson, rense.com, (from Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 12-9-02), December 15, 2002
"It's not unusual for dozens of moving companies, many of them based in Florida and owned by Israeli nationals, to give low-ball bids and then jack up their prices once a customer's goods are on a truck, consumer advocates say. Many of these companies market themselves over the Internet. Two Advanced Moving Systems movers were arrested in April when they attempted a similar maneuver on a Thiensville couple. Charges were later dropped, but the two men were extradited to North Carolina, where they were found guilty of damaging a customer's property, smashing a piece of furniture each time the customer refused to pay them more money. After a similar incident in Lancaster, Pa., police there said they will arrest Advanced Moving's owner, Zion Rokah, if he ever returns to the area. Zion Rokah is an Israeli national, as was the driver arrested in Thiensville. As Stuckey found out, consumers have little recourse but to pay whatever the mover wants. 'If they ask for $100,000, you'll have to give them $100,000,' Stuckey said U.S. Department of Transportation officials told her when she called them for help. 'They said the only way I'll get satisfaction is if I know a guy named Guido with a submachine gun and go down to Florida.' 'I never in my wildest dreams thought fraud, extortion and theft were legal. But apparently they are,' Stuckey said ... . 'It's the usual cat and mouse, trying to stay one step ahead of the law,' said James Balderrama, a Florida-based operator of www.movingadvocateteam.com, a Web site that targets unscrupulous moves."

Likud sees lead wilt as inquiry mounts into alleged vote buying,
Jewish Telegraphic Agency, December 17, 2002
"Pundits say a police investigation into allegations of corruption in the selection of its Knesset candidates could cost Likud enough seats to lose the election. While the Labor Party is facing its own investigation, analysts say the scope of the Likud scandal could be enough to swing the Jan. 28 election to Labor. According to the Likud’s own internal polls, the scandal — which broke last week with allegations that aspiring Knesset members had been asked to pay for political support — already has cost Likud two or three seats. Party insiders say the trend seems to be continuing ... A secretary for one candidate told Israeli television that her boss had asked her to hint to Central Committee members that she would be willing to have sex with them in return for their votes ... Two members of the Central Committee were detained Monday and place under house arrest Tuesday. The arrests, carried out by the Israeli police force’s fraud division. Some of the money for this heavy-duty canvassing was believed to come from underworld figures, some of whom recently joined Likud. Enigmatic reports surfaced in the press about 'criminal families' having funded campaigns of Cabinet ministers and Knesset members, and of  'current or past criminals' who had hosted senior ministers at their homes for lunch or dinner ... Chemi Shalev, an analyst for the Ma’ariv daily, wrote that 'there always was and always will be corruption in politics, but in a place where representatives of the underworld are elected directly to the legislature, it’s only a matter of time before the pagan idol takes over the temple from within' ... The Likud is seriously considering hiring American spin doctor Arthur Finkelstein, master of the negative campaign, who ran Benjamin Netanyahu’s 1996 and 1999 prime ministerial bids. Labor is sure to keep the Likud bribery and corruption allegations on the public agenda for as long as possible."

Pre-Election Scandal Shakes Ruling Likud,
Earthlink (from Associated Press), December 20, 2002
"A scandal involving allegations of rampant vote-buying and bribery has caused Ariel Sharon's ruling Likud [Party in Israel] to slide in the polls ahead of upcoming general elections. Likud remains far ahead of the moderate Labor Party and Sharon is still considered a shoo-in for prime minister but a daily dose of scandal over the past week, including talk of possible involvement of organized crime, has taken its toll ... The scandal blew open when a political novice, a young waitress who hails from a family with casino interests and alleged underworld connections, finished ahead of popular figures like Jerusalem Mayor Ehud Olmert. Soon after, party whistleblowers and disappointed candidates began making allegations that candidates bribed committee members with cash and gifts such as free lodging at luxury hotels. The police and Attorney General Elkayim Rubinstein opened investigations. One losing candidate, Haim Cohen, reportedly told authorities a committee member demanded a $70,000 bribe to guarantee a seat on the Likud slate for the Knesset, the Israeli parliament. Cohen was quoted as saying the man approached him and 'made a sign with his fingers that he wanted cash.' There are also claims that mob figures have permeated the Likud infrastructure: convicted racketeer Moussa Alperon is a new member of the Likud election committee, as is Shlomi Oz, who served 32 months in prison for extortion and conspiracy and once belonged to the notorious Alperon gang. 'This is the first time that criminal elements so bluntly promoted people to enter into the Knesset,' said Menachem Amir, a criminology professor at Hebrew University in Jerusalem. 'There is a threat to democracy if your legislators represent crime groups. The very symbol of democracy is the legislator.' Meanwhile, Israeli media reported links between several crime families and Sharon's son Omri a backstage Likud wheeler-dealer who finished high in the primary. Haaretz newspaper said Omri Sharon delivered party registration forms to the Jarushi clan, some of whose members are allegedly involved in the drug trad, and that the prime minister's son is friends with Oz .. It is unclear whether the scandal will boost the fortunes of the Labor Party, which has a credibility problem of its own. Investigators are looking into allegations of vote fraud during Labor's primary, especially in Druse villages."

Phony firms swindling job-hungry immigrants,
Ha'aretz (Israel), January 1, 2002
"Looking for help, [Larisa] Mayzikov turned to the Yedid non-profit group and discovered that she is not alone. In recent months, Yedid has uncovered 20 similar instances. Yedid activities director in the Tel Aviv region, Liora Enbar, says that the fraudulent cases involve new immigrants who were asked to pay fees ranging from NIS 480 to NIS 1,000, ostensibly for job search assistance. Only a few of the [Russian] immigrants received receipts for their payments. None of the immigrants received work. To their chagrin, some discovered that the offices to which they had made payments disappeared within weeks: when they returned to the office to seek reimbursement, they discovered the company had vanished. Enbar has advised the fraud victims to lodge complaints with the police; police officers, however, indicate there is little to be done against the racketeers. 'Apparently the need to work is so great that people are prepared to pay large fees,' explains Yedid Deputy Director Dan Melamed ... Yesterday, police announced that 20 members of a fraud ring from southern Tel Aviv have been arrested: the suspects allegedly created a phony personnel company and swindled job-seeking new immigrants. The 20 were taken to Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court yesterday for an extension of their arrest remands. Another 10 people have been questioned in connection with the alleged personnel company fraud. A police spokesman said yesterday that the 20 suspects in the case belong to an 'organized gang. Most of them are from the same family, and they work in an organized, systematic way to cheat new immigrants from the CIS. This gang opened fake personnel offices and offered work to new immigrants, but never actually supplied the jobs.'"

Setting New Standards,
by David Horovitz, Jerusalem Report, January 13, 2003
"Week by week, we are forced to redefine our assumptions about the scale of avarice and criminality in the governance of this country [Israel]. In Scandal One, already receding fast, we saw new standards set for greed outweighing concern for the national interest: Yossi Ginossar, a former senior Shin Bet agent, was allegedly raking in payments as a coordinator of Yasser Arafat’s foreign bank accounts even as Arafat was inciting his people to murderous martyrdom ... Now along comes Scandal Two, the Likud’s internal elections -- and new revelations arrive daily about the extent to which the elected representatives of the governing party, and those about to be elected, pander to and are intimidated by criminals. Ex-cons, and recent ex-cons at that, allegedly have leading politicians in their pockets. A family suspected of skating along the edges of the laws on gambling, and consequently much investigated by police, can turn a favorite child into a Knesset member by pulling a few strings -- and the fact that the young woman in question, Inbal Gavrieli (No. 29 on the Likud’s slate), has no record of public service, no remote qualification for running the country, nor even longstanding party membership for that matter, merely made the endeavor more of a challenge. Likud Central Committee member Musa Alperon, former face of one of the most notorious debt-collection families in Israel, with a conviction and jail term for a counterfeiting conspiracy behind him, is now publicly lamenting that he didn’t run for a seat himself, instead of just making his pet preferences known ... Amid all the Likud fuss, alleged ballot-box irregularities in Labor's nationwide primaries are largely being overlooked. All but overlooked, as well, is the Likud’s legitimization of Moshe Feiglin (41st place) convicted of sedition in 1997, and the adulation for Ehud Yatom, another former Shin Bet agent, swept into 24th place on the Likud slate -- the man who in 1984 bludgeoned to death two Palestinians captured after attempting to hijack an Egged bus, lied about it, and later invoked the unthinkable defense, for us as a people, that he had only been following orders. Overlooked too, as it it has been for months, is the kind of institutionalized scandal that currently afflicts the [Arab] residents of Kafr Aqab ... But while, in practice, Kafr Aqab has been severed from Jerusalem, the fiction that it is part of our capital is scrupulously maintained by City Hall, which continues to collect city taxes from its residents. This despite the fact that, given the stringent controls that apply at the checkpoint, the city, even if it wanted to, is manifestly incapable of providing proper refuse-collection, road maintenance or other services. So committed is City Hall to obtaining its taxes from the theoretically Jerusalem neighborhood of Kafr Aqab that it routinely places liens on accounts at Israeli banks held by locals who don’t, or can’t, pay up. A homeowner there last week showed me his 10,000 shekel city tax demand, including fines and interest payments, and a letter confirming that he may not access his bank account."

Fund managers convicted in share manipulation scandal,
Ha'aretz (Israel), February 12, 2003
"Tel Aviv District Court yesterday found three top financial figures guilty of share manipulation. Eilon Tzabari, a former deputy CEO of Gmulot, a portfolio management company owned by Bank Hapoalim; Yoram Nagler, a former manager at the Dovrat-Shrem investment house; and Haim Regev, a former investment manager at Psagot, a mutual fund management company belonging to Bank Leumi were convicted - though not on all charges brought against them. The verdict came seven-and-a-half years after the charges were filed against Tzabari - on July 26, 1995 - following suspicions that arose about dealings in the late 1980s. Judge Oded Mudrik found Tzabari, Nagler, Regev, and other market players had conspired to use insider information and direct investment by their companies to manipulate share prices for personal gain. They did so by using shell accounts in a privately-held investment company run by two other market players, Kobi Ramot and Ron Ben-David, who turned state's witnesses in the affair."

CNN CONNIE CHUNG TONIGHT,
CNN, Aired February 20, 2003
"CHUNG: Michael Corbitt was a cop and eventually chief in suburban Chicago on a force that he says was largely corrupt. So why wasn't he doing something about it? It turned out that Corbitt was part of the problem. His rise through the ranks was because of the mob. And along with others, he was taking money from the mob. His real boss was Sam Giancana, one of the country's most notorious mob bosses and head of the Chicago outfit. In addition to running from the law, Giancana also did backdoor deals with the law, like negotiate a $150,000 deal with the CIA to assassinate Fidel Castro. Now his nephew, also named Sam Giancana, but not in the same business, has teamed up with Corbitt on a new book, 'Double Deal,' that makes some explosive allegations. And they join us tonight .... CHUNG: Such as -- let's go into one of them, because they're incredible. In 1966, Sam Giancana was released from custody from the feds. CORBITT: That's correct. CHUNG: And you claim in the book -- and you had to verify this, Sam. GIANCANA: That's right. CHUNG: That it was because LBJ, the president at the time, ordered it. CORBITT: That's right. CHUNG: How could that be? Why? CORBITT: They needed a somebody, a conduit for the Israeli military to fund a gun-running operation. Sam Giancana agreed to do it and fund a gun-running operation for $1 million to the Israeli army. CHUNG: And ultimately, Sam, did that -- were those guns used? GIANCANA: From what we understand, that money was forwarded to Israel for purchases of arms. And within a year, the Six Day War occurred. And this was at a time when Israel was facing increased tension from Jordan, from Syria, and from Egypt."

[Which Country Leads the World -- By Far -- in Computer Hacking Attacks?]
Riptech [pdf file: Origin of Attacks -- See page 16]





[Obvious question: how many organs were from Arabs, victims of Israeli military terror, or otherwise?]
Assuta doctors face investigation for alleged organ dealing,
By Roni Singer and Ran Reznick, Haaretz (Isarel), June 26, 2003
"The police yesterday asked the Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court to remand four people suspected of buying and selling organs for transplants. Judge Hagai Brenner remanded one suspect until Friday and two others until Sunday, releasing the alleged ringleader, Yaakov Dayan, on NIS 5,000 bail. The judge, however, appeared unconvinced by the police's claims. "I could not find any article of the law, nor were the police able to point to any, that forbids dealing in organs," he wrote, adding that the Knesset ought to close this loophole. He also said the police had presented insufficient evidence to indicate that Dayan was the ringleader, nor did he believe that documents that the police had labeled forgeries actually met the legal definition of a forgery. Because at present there is no law against organ dealing in Israel, the remand request listed other suspicions instead, including conspiracy to commit a crime, extortion, false imprisonment, forgery and violations of the anatomy and pathology laws. Police suspect that in at least one case, when a man who had agreed to sell his kidney had second thoughts, two of the suspects, Albert Chernoff and Gennady Mashkis, forced him to undergo the operation by keeping him locked up until it took place. Nevertheless, the main allegation against the four is that they bought organs, mainly kidneys, from needy people - primarily new immigrants - and then sold them to people who required transplants. Dayan yesterday expressed no regret for this. 'I'm proud of my actions,' he said. "A district court judge, two broadcasters, a major general in the Israel Defense Forces and rabbis all received transplants through me. I have saved hundreds of lives." Though the operations took place in Turkey, police said that most of the medical tests undergone by the buyers and sellers were performed by Assuta Medical Center in Tel Aviv - the country's largest private hospital, which is partly owned by the Maccabi health maintenance organization. The police believe that Assuta doctors actively cooperated with the suspects. 'In the best case, they turned a blind eye, even though they knew a buyer and seller were involved,' said one police source. Assuta, which was harshly criticized by the Health Ministry in 1996 because of the involvement of some of its doctors in organ dealing, responded that it performed thousands of laboratory tests every year, and as long as they were ordered by a doctor, the hospital did not inquire why the doctor needed the information. Police believe the organ-dealing ring also conducted testing at two other Israeli medical centers that will be investigated in the coming days. Other questions they are investigating are whether the recipients knew that the organs might have been obtained criminally and whether the lawyers with whom the ring worked knew that the affidavits they issued, which said the organs were being donated rather than sold, were false."

[The mafia it's forbidden to mention in the popular Western media:]
Israeli Underworld Surfaces as Gang Warfare Hits Street,
By ELLI WOHLGELERNTER, [Jewish] FORWARD, August 15, 2003
"Despite the shaky cease-fire between Israel and the Palestinians, Israel's streets are stained with blood this summer, due to an explosion of gang warfare that has police baffled. One of Israel's most feared mobsters, Yisrael "Alice" Mizrahi, 58, was killed last week when his Mercedes jeep was blown up near his south Tel Aviv office in what police called a "super-professional" job. He was killed by a remote-controlled bomb underneath the driver's seat that sheared off the steering wheel while leaving the wheels and underbody intact. Two other passengers, including his wife, Esther, were lightly injured. Police say they are uncertain who killed "Alice." His death would be just the latest in a series of unsolved attacks during the last six weeks that one detective called "a world war" among rival gangs, for reasons that remain unclear: • August 5: A 16-year-old Acre boy, the son of a police officer, is arrested on suspicion of trying to assassinate a suspected underworld figure as a part of an ongoing gang war in the northern port city. • August 2: The body of David Amar, 40, is found on the Nofshonit beach near Caesarea ... • July 31: Aharon Masika, 53, known by the nickname "The Assassin," is killed when a man dressed as an ultra-Orthodox Jew approaches him in the middle of the street and fires one shot between the eyes from point-blank range. • July 26: The body of Muhammad Khaled Armush, 30, is found in an apartment in Haifa's Hadar district. Police believe Armush, a familiar figure, was killed in a criminal feud ... • July 13: Alex Barak, known as "The Mystery Man," is shot and seriously wounded leaving his Tel Aviv home after receiving a phone call from a supposed buyer of a bar he owned. Barak was known to be a close friend of the late Felix Abutbul, considered by police to be the boss of the underworld in the coastal city of Netanya. Abutbul was gunned down outside one of his Prague casinos in August 2002. Barak spent nine years in a British prison during the 1970s and 1980s for his role in the attempted kidnap-for-ransom of a Nigerian minister. • July 9: "Nikita," a 17-year-old girl from Beersheva, is arrested with three men believed to be en route to a shooting. "I was supposed to get the gun and shoot him," she tells interrogators. • July 3: Reuven "Banjo" Adazhshvili, 42, known to police as "Assassin No. 1," is found shot to death in his car in a parking lot near Yarkonim Junction outside Tel Aviv. • June 30: Reputed Tel Aviv mob kingpin Ze'ev "Zevik" Rosenstein and three bodyguards are lightly injured by shrapnel when a bomb is set off by remote control outside his Tel Aviv office. It is the fourth attempt on Rosenstein in the last year. Police say he leads a charmed life. • June 27: Micha Aslan, 47, a head of the Jerusalem underworld during the 1970s and 1980s, is shot in the back by an unknown assailant in Eilat while on vacation ... • June 19: Georgi Gilashvili, 40, a Georgian citizen, is stopped by police for speeding on a stolen motorcycle, and is charged with speeding, entering the country illegally and possessing forged identification documents. A reputed professional assassin, he is later charged with conspiracy to assassinate two leading mob bosses, Itzik and Meir Abergil, reputed kingpins in Israel's gambling and protection rackets, whose photographs were on him when he was arrested ... Hebrew University criminologist Menachem Amir ... said that besides the six main crime families, there are also local groups fighting turf wars over control of hometown operations. "They picked up only on those six that committed extortion or killings beyond their territory, but there are other groups who are murderers within their territory — like in Pardes Katz, or Netanya." Moreover, he said, "These six groups don't include the Russians. The Russians operate not so much in gambling but mainly in prostitution and extortion — although some of the Israeli groups also specialize in extortion of houses of prostitution." It was the killing of Mizrahi last week that shone the spotlight on the gang wars. Described as one of the most wanted and colorful figures in the Israeli underworld, Mizrahi was a leader of the so-called "Israeli Mafia" operating in Brooklyn during the late 1980s. He moved to New York after serving five years in Israel for armed robbery, and became the right-hand man of Yehuda "Johnny" Attias, who headed a gang of former Israelis specializing in heroin and cocaine smuggling, gasoline racketeering and extortion. When he returned to Israel in the early 1990s, Mizrahi was under suspicion in two murder cases. He was suspected of kidnapping and murdering fellow Israeli émigré Albert "Babar" Shushan on the way to New York's Kennedy Airport in March 1988 in what was believed to be a drug dispute. A year later, Michael Markowitz, a Romanian-born Israeli-American and suspected FBI informant, was found dead with three bullets in his head in his car in the Sheepshead Bay section of Brooklyn. Though Israeli, Markowitz was described by New York police as a significant figure in the "Russian Mafia" in Brooklyn. They said the Israeli mob in New York did not accept him because he was an Ashkenazic Jew and the Israeli mob was exclusively Sephardic."

Cyber Attacks Jump Dramatically,
By Roy Mark Cyber, Internet News, January 28, 2003
"Cyber attacks have increased by almost 80 percent over the last six months according to new research by Riptech, Inc. The managed security services firm says its report is the first to present cyber attack trends based on the empirical analysis of actual cyber attacks detected against a global sample of security devices. The sample set from which the attack trends in this report were derived consists of more than 300 companies in more than 25 countries throughout the world ... Adjusting for the number of Internet users in each country, the intensity of attacks from Israel is nearly double the attack intensity rate of any other individual country ... "Information security has emerged as a strategic concern for corporate decision makers," said Amit Yoran, president and chief executive officer of Riptech."

Hackers using Israeli 'net site to strike at Pentagon,
By Nitzan Horowitz, Middle East Facts (originally from Haaretz - Israel), July 30, 1999
"An Israeli Internet site is being used by international computer hackers as a base for electronic attacks on U.S. government and military computer systems, according to Pentagon officials who were quoted in a Washington Times report yesterday. The paper said that the National Security Agency detected the hackers and warned government security officials last week about the electronic penetration attempts. The warning was issued by the National Security Incident Response Center, an interagency group set up by the NSA to track computer attacks, the Washington Times explained. The attacks were traced to an Internet protocol (IP) address in Israel, said officials who spoke on the condition of anonymity. (An IP address is a number that identifies a computer connected to the Internet.) Many probes of government and military computers were detected from the Israeli site, the agency noted, adding that the site is a popular "jump point" for hackers in Israel and other countries. Hackers have also used the site to store hacker-related materials, such as software and database information, the Washington paper reported. Such materials can include special password-breaking programs that are used to find entry points into Internet sites."

Telephone Bomb Threat Follows Campus Debate,
By JAKOB SCHILLER, Berkeley Daily Planet, October 7, 2003
"Berkeley Police officers escorted Alison Weir, founder of If Americans Knew, into her organization’s South Berkeley office Monday afternoon, three days after a voicemail threat warning her to stay away from her office at 2 p.m. Monday or risk losing her life. Weir was one of four panelists who spoke during a debate Thursday on the UC Berkeley campus where participants presented contrasting views of the Israeli/Palestinean crisis—with Weir as a representative of the Palestinian perspective. She said If Americans Knew was created to inform and educate the American public about issues she says are unreported, underreported, or misreported in the American media. The anonymous caller claimed to have attended the campus debate and expressed outrage at Weir, who he claimed was helping to “destroy Israel.” The voice on the message—which she replayed for reporters—sounded young, American, and intense, with long heavy breaths in between words. “Hi. I heard your speech today in UC Berkeley; the debate. And I’m telling you this right now. On Monday, at 2 p.m., you better not be in your office. Because me and my buddies, who were trained in the Israeli Army, will come and kill every single one of you sons-of-bitches for what you are doing to destroy Israel. So watch out, this is not a joke. On Monday you better watch out. Don’t come to work. And close your organization or you’re going to die,” the message said. After contacting the Berkeley Police and the FBI, Weir asked all other employees to stay home, but she decided to show up herself to demonstrate that she was not intimidated. “I’m not going to be silenced,” Weir said. Several supporters, including UC Dean of Students Karen Kenney—moderator of the UC debate—and Kriss Worthington from the Berkeley City Council, came to join her at the group’s second floor Adeline Street offices for the designated time. “This is the bullying action of cowards,” Weir said. “I think it represents that fanaticism with which people defend Israel. It also shows how weak their cause is in a public debate.” The debate was the result of a challenge from a San Francisco State student who had asked Weir to defend her claims against pro-Israel speakers. Weir agreed, and sat on the pro-Palestinian side with Hatem Bazian, a lecturer in UC Berkeley’s Near Eastern Studies Department. David Meir-Levi, head of the Israel Peace Institute and Eric Sirkin, a Palo Alto technology firm executive, spoke for the Israeli position ... Weir attributes the threat to the pro-Israel side’s frustration over the debate, which she says they lost. “Since they didn’t win the debate, they thought they would just kill us,” said Weir. She said there is a history of threats against pro-Palestinean activists from groups like the Jewish Defense League (JDL), whose chairman was indicted Jan. 10 on charges of conspiring to bomb the office of Congressman Daryl Issa. The group was also investigated for the 1985 murder of the West Coast Regional Director of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC)."

Israel top base for Internet attacks,
Interest Alert! (from UPI), October 20, 2003
A survey by Symantec says Middle Eastern countries comprised six of the top 10 bases for Internet attacks, it was reported Monday. In the first half of 2003, the top offenders included Israel as well as Iran, Egypt, Kuwait, Saudi Arabia and United Arab Emirates, WorldTribune.com said. Symantec ranked the threats according to the size of a country's Internet population base. Israel was cited as the biggest source of Web-based attacks with an Internet user base of more than 1 million, Middle East Newsline reported. About 80 percent of all attacks originated from systems located in 10 countries. "The Internet is a great leveler and the issue of Web security in the Middle East is no different from any other part of the world," Kevin Isaac, regional director at Symantec, said. "Wherever there is high bandwidth availability and a proliferation of the Internet, the chances of breaches taking place are high."

Police foil fresh attempt on life of underworld figure,
By Roni Singer, Haaretz (Israel), October 22, 2003
"The police have foiled another attempt to assassinate suspected underworld figure Ze'ev Rosenstein and his family, according to information permitted for publication by Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court on Wednesday. Some two weeks ago, police arrested three suspects, including Abie Abergil - a member of the Abergil family that has a long-running feud with Rosenstein and his underworld associates - who were suspected of involvement in a previous attempt to kill Rosenstein. The investigation, which was helped along by a state witness, revealed that the three planned to attack Rosenstein and his business partner, Aharon Ben Hamra, using three blocks of explosives left outside Ben Hamra's home. Two of the blocks were discovered in Rishon Letzion two weeks ago close to Ben Hamara's residence. The third explosive was discovered in the house of one of the suspects, who resides in Lod. In the past year, Rosenstein has survived four attempts on his life. Police believe that the dispute between Rosenstein and his associates and the Abergil family centers around who will control the illegal gambling racket in Israel."

Israeli Computer Hackers Foiled, Exposed,
By Michael Gillespie, middleeast.org (For Washington Report on Middle East Affairs), September 3, 2003
"Israeli cyber warfare professionals targeted human rights and anti-war activists across the USA in late July and August temporarily disrupting communications, harassing hundreds of computer users, and annoying thousands more. The Israeli hackers targeted Stephen 'Sami' Mashney, an Anaheim, California, attorney active in the effort to raise awareness of the plight of Palestinians. 'People have found an alternate way to communicate through the Internet,' Mashney, a Palestinian-American, told the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, 'and this attack is backfiring on the hackers. Many people are being educated.' Mashney, who co-manages a popular pro-Palestinian e-mail list hosted by Yahoo! logged onto his Internet accounts on July 31 to find hundreds of e-mail messages from angry Americans. He quickly realized that hackers had appropriated or 'spoofed' his e-mail addresses and identity and sent out a message titled 'Down With America' in his name. The message named and included contact information for 16 well-known human rights activists and falsely claimed the activists wished to be contacted by anyone desiring advice or assistance in fomenting and carrying out anti-American, anti-Christian, or anti-Jewish activities. In an obvious attempt to damage Mashney's reputation, the hackers appended his name, law office telephone number, and website address to the spurious e-mail. As Mashney was looking up the telephone number of the local FBI office to report the hackers' crime, his phone rang. It was the FBI calling, from Washington, with questions about the forged e-mail message. Mashney later met with FBI agents in California. 'I answered all their relevant questions,' said Mashney, who notes that the hackers' attacks continued unabated for weeks and expanded to include other new and innovative methods of harassment that were used against many other activists associated with Free Palestine and other public and private e-mail lists. Dr. Francis A. Boyle, professor of International Law at the University of Illinois College of Law, is a human rights activist who served on the board of Amnesty International USA. A member of Free Palestine and other activist lists, Dr. Boyle was also targeted by Israeli hackers who sent counterfeit e-mails in his name. Again, the hackers' intention was to sow confusion, provoke animosity, damage a reputation, and restrict ability to communicate. When Boyle returned from a vacation in mid August, he found 55,000 e-mails waiting for him. Like Mashney, Boyle spent days sorting through the messages, writing personal apologies to those offended by the bogus e-mails, and deleting thousands of bounced messages. Unflappable, Boyle takes it all in stride. 'You can't keep the Irish down,' wrote Boyle in an e-mail message to this reporter. Israeli hackers also targeted Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh, associate professor at the Yale University School of Medicine. The hackers forwarded to some 1,500 members of the Yale community e-mails that Qumsiyeh had sent to a private list of activists. Many of his university colleagues were annoyed, but Qumsiyeh, too, feels that the hackers are doing the Zionist cause more harm than good ... Darrell Yeaney, a Presbyterian campus minister who retired after serving at the University of Iowa, is active in Friends of Sabeel, an ecumenical Christian organization that supports the ministry of Sabeel, the center for Palestinian Ecumenical Liberation Theology. He and his wife, Sue, now serve as co-moderators for the Middle East Peacemaking Group in Iowa. The Yeaneys report that the hackers appropriated their address and sent out spurious e-mail in their names. Ames-based activist, author, and editor Betsy Mayfield, whose work has appeared in the Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, was busy with plans for a mid-September Des Moines film festival, 'Boundaries: The Holy Land,' when the hackers turned their attentions to her computer. Several Ames women whose only association with the crisis in the Holy Land is their commitment to the Ames Interfaith Council (AIC) reported being shocked by the sudden appearance of pornographic e-mail and racist diatribes on their computer screens. Many Iowans were targeted for harassment by the hackers, and hundreds of others suffered varying degrees of inconvenience because they were somehow connected to the cause of peace and justice in the Middle East. Similar scenarios played out in other states across the USA. The scale of the Israeli cyber warfare campaign, the number of targets, and the variety of techniques used, coupled with specifically targeted intrusions calculated to provide additional target addresses for the application of the hackers' various forms of harassment, suggest a sophisticated, coordinated, government-sponsored program designed to impact directly upon the communications abilities of the human rights and pro-Palestinian anti-war activism communities in the USA. When the Israeli hackers 'spoofed' the AIC's e-mail address, they invited a response they did not expect. Because the AIC list was hosted by Iowa State University (ISU), because the world's first electronic digital computer was invented at ISU in a Physics Department laboratory in the early 1940s, and because he has represented the ISU Muslim Student's Association on the AIC cabinet, ISU Physics Department computer administrator Dr. Bassam Shehadeh decided to track the hackers down. 'The hackers access the internet via an ISP called on the West Bank,' said Shehadeh. When did not respond to his repeated e-mail enquiries, Shehadeh called the company, informed their representative that Palnet facilities were being used to interfere with communications at a state institution in the USA, and demanded an explanation. He provided information that enabled Palnet technicians to identify the phone number of the customer harassing Iowans. 'Everyone here is a victim but the hackers,' said Shehadeh. 'The hackers use stolen identification to get access to Palnet.' Shehadeh said the contact line the hackers used for at least one message to the AIC list address was an Israeli number in West Jerusalem or one of the surrounding settlements. A Palnet representative also told Shehadeh the hackers have used several lines and methods to access Palnet's facilities."

Palestine Activism Spammed,
by Abby Aguirre, The Nation, October 10, 2003
"Within days of the April incursion of the Israel Defense Forces into Jenin, pro-Palestine activist Thomas Olson received first a trickle, then thousands, of e-mails with menacing subject lines such as: "Mecca is for Muslims, Jerusalem is for Jews," "Die Hitler Scum" and "I take it in the ass from Arafat." What then became daily e-mail bombardments of pro-Israel diatribes, racist cartoons and pornography soon progressed into a much more sinister form of cyber-harassment: Olson became a victim of a type of identity-theft dubbed a "joe job" by experts, wherein someone using Olson's name and e-mail address sends out thousands of messages that grossly misrepresent his position with respect to the Israeli-Palestinian conflict. One such "job" had Olson declaring "I love Hitler" to hundreds of his fellow activists. Welcome to the concerted (and ongoing) cyber-campaign to frustrate and intimidate US-based pro-Palestine activists who attempt to organize on the Internet. While spammings continue to crash servers and shut down inboxes, these joe jobs in particular have been smearing identities and wasting countless hours valuable to the activist community. University of Illinois law professor and pro-Palestine organizer Francis Boyle, for example, returned from a summer vacation to find 55,000 e-mails waiting in his inbox--most of them return-to-senders from a mass e-mail he supposedly wrote saying, "When I see in the newspapers that civilians in Afghanistan or the West Bank were killed by American or Israeli troops, I don't really care." Boyle--a former board member of Amnesty International USA and outspoken critic of the war in Afghanistan--spent four days sorting through the e-mails, deleting failed deliveries and apologizing to angry colleagues. Similarly, Monica Tarazi, director of the New York chapter of the American-Arab Anti-Discrimination Committee (ADC), discovered that her e-mail account had shut down after someone using her address spammed some eighty Yahoo! groups. And Yale medical school professor Dr. Mazin Qumsiyeh has on three separate occasions learned that e-mails he wrote to various activist lists were altered and forwarded to 1,500 members of the Yale community. Qumsiyeh has also been the victim of outright forgeries, many of which attempt to slander him by alleging that he is a Muslim advocating terrorist acts."

Former Ramat Gan chief rabbi found guilty of bribe taking,
By Zvi Harel, Haaretz (Israel), November 23, 2003
"The former chief rabbi of Ramat Gan, Yitzhak Barda, was found guilty on Sunday of accepting bribes. Tel Aviv Magistrate's Court Judge Daniel Bari found the rabbi guilty of taking thousands of dollars in bribes from people who wished to convert to Judaism. In exchange, Barda referred the conversion candidates to a rabbi in France. The ruling states that the conversion candidates were referred to Barda by a woman named Eva Tzror. The defendant claimed during the trial that Tzror never passed on the full amount, paying him smaller amounts of NIS 400-500 to distribute to employees at the mikveh (ritual purification bath) who worked odd hours. The judge however ruled that Barda's version of events was not credible. Barda did admit that he had sent 20-30 converts to a rabbi in Paris to speed along their conversion process, taking $2,500-3,000 from them as a "handling charge" and as payment to the French rabbi."

[One of the "criminal organizations" is Israel itself.]
Cops tell Knesset `dozens' of organized gangs are fighting a turf war in Israel,
By Gideon Alon, Haaretz (Israel), Decembe 18, 2003
"There are dozens of criminal organizations in Israel, Police Intelligence Branch Commander Ilan Franco told the Knesset Constitution, Justice and Law Committee. Franco said the largest and most established of the groups have clear hierarchies and are involved in cash-rich industries: gambling, drugs, extortions rackets and the sex slave industry. He said those organizations maintain close contact with similar groups in the Far East, Latin America, and Europe ... [H]e noted that in the past year there were more than 70 arrests of people involved in criminal organizations - almost twice last year's arrest rate ... MK Azmi Bishara (Balad) complained in the committee that the government only woke up to the problem of organized crime after last week's failed assassination attempt on underworld kingpin Ze'ev Rosenstein killed three Jews on a main street in Tel Aviv."

[How is Israel a festering Hellhole? Let me count the ways ... ]
Snap Judgment: Where have you gone, Meyer Lansky?,
By CALEV BEN-DAVID, Jerusalem Post, Decmber 16, 2993
"[T]he days when the Israeli public could complacently look on underworld doings as real-life Sopranos-style tabloid entertainment are long gone. The power and threat of local organized crime has skyrocketed during the past decade. The horrific bombing attempt in Tel Aviv last week on the life of mob boss Ze'ev Rosenstein that instead claimed three innocent lives is being described by police Insp.-Gen. Shlomo Aharonishky as "a turning point in the police's attitude toward crime and criminals." One has to wonder though, why that point wasn't reached after the previous incidents of gang warfare this year that left an additional seven bystanders lying dead in the streets. Perhaps it is understandable, as some have argued, that the police (and public's) focus on the threat of terrorism has distracted them from the growing menace of organized crime. If so, it's a grievous mistake. The two phenomena are in fact closely connected. There are direct links between the Israeli and Palestinian underworlds. It is well known that the tunnels under the Gaza-Egypt border used to smuggle weapons into the hands of terrorists are also conduits for narcotics and the prostitutes who ply their trade in Israel's growing number of brothels. Israeli criminals who continue to enter Palestinian areas shunned by law-abiding citizens have also been found to abet – and occasionally fall victim to – terrorist acts. The linkage between political terrorism and organized crime, seen elsewhere around the globe in such trouble spots as Columbia, Chechnya, and Northern Ireland, has proved potent enough to destabilize entire societies. Beyond the direct threat of violence, and perhaps even more dangerous, has been the institutional corruption that accompanies such large-scale vice rings. In recent years there has been growing concern that the hugely powerful and wealthy organized crime rings that crawled out from under the wreckage of the former Soviet Union might be infiltrating Israel along with the massive wave of Russian aliya. Perhaps the emphasis given this possibility led the police and justice system to underestimate the flourishing of more home-grown gangs. If so, the rampant corruption that accompanied last year's Likud Knesset candidate elections, in which mob-connected figures like the Alperons succeeded in gaining control over entire local branches of the party, should have sent up red warning-flags long before last week's bombing. Even more worrying is the increasing influence of a gambling industry, both legal and otherwise, whose web of ties stretch from the Palestinian Authority-controlled casino in Jericho, to gaming houses in Eastern Europe controlled by Israeli families able to buy a Knesset seat for one of their members, and perhaps even into the prime minister's office itself ... And if the police, courts and government don't act hard and fast, the likes of [famous Jewish American crime syndicate head Meyer] Lansky and even Shmaya Angel will look like nothing in comparison to the reign of crime heading our way."

Crush the Israeli mafia,
By LARRY DERFNER, Jerusalem Post, December 18,m 2003
"If law enforcement has now "declared war on organized crime," why is Israel's sexual slave trade, in all its violence and horror, still thriving in plain sight in all the larger cities? By now everybody should know the story behind the hundreds of "health clubs" and "massage parlors" on this country's seamier downtown streets. The women there are lured from the former Soviet Union with promises of work overseas, then drugged, beaten and raped into captivity, transported to Egypt where they are raped some more by Beduin smuggling them across the Israeli border, then finally brought here where they are sold like prize cattle and imprisoned as slave prostitutes in these health clubs and massage parlors, and God help them if they try to escape or go to the police. If you want an idea of the police's true attitude to organized crime, go to the area around the old Central Bus Station in Tel Aviv. This is considered the crime capital of the country. There are slave parlors with neon signs up and down the streets. There's a park where vans line up waiting to take small-time drug dealers to the Rakevet neighborhood in Lod where they buy heroin, after which the vans drive them back to the park so they can go about their business. There are junkies, burglars and muggers all over the place. I know this because the police took me on a tour of the neighborhood recently for a story. The junkies were shooting up right in front of their eyes. The van drivers and dealers didn't blink when the police drove up. The two flunkies working in one of the slave shops were told only to keep the women off the sidewalk, out of public view. "There are some religious people living here, and they complain," one of the cops explained to me as we left. I wonder what Rudy Giuliani would have told the police if they'd taken him on that same tour when he was in Israel this week. Yet with the streets around the old Central Bus Station teeming with slavemasters, heroin dealers, muggers and burglars, who are the only criminals in the neighborhood hiding in fear from the police? House cleaners from Ghana. Caregivers from the Philippines. Construction workers from Romania. Foreigners who are doing Israel's low-paid dirty work without legal permits. ASIDE FROM Palestinian terrorists, these are the only criminals in Israel that the police are really taking seriously. Hundreds of cops have been conscripted for the new Immigration Police, and in the last year they've arrested tens of thousands of illegal foreign workers at home, at work and on the street, and held them in jails and even empty hotels on the way to having them deported. Meanwhile, even though law-enforcement and government officials have come to the solemn conclusion that organized crime is nothing less than "terror," and a "strategic threat to Israel's existence," the country is still crawling with these killers who run the slavery, drug, extortion and gambling rings. Ze'ev Rosenstein, allegedly the Osama bin Laden of organized criminal terror here, told police he had no idea who was behind the bombing attempt on his life that killed three innocent bystanders in Tel Aviv last week. So once again, they let him go. The funny thing is that Israeli police have never been known to play by Marquis of Queensbury rules. When it comes to garden-variety crime by street punks, especially Arabs but also Jews, or rowdy demonstrations by Arabs but also university students, haredim or settlers, Israeli police have a long-standing reputation for beating the crap out of people ... And why haven't the police raided every one of these hundreds of slave parlors, these concentration camps, and destroyed them with axes and padlocked them? Why haven't the police arrested every one of the thugs who work there, and applied a nice dose of moderate physical pressure to them until they told everything they knew about the who, what and where of the business? Why haven't the police taken all the slave women into protective custody until they can be sent back home to their families? The police offer all sorts of excuses: they don't have the manpower, the money, the jail space. Yet they do have the manpower, money and jail space to arrest and detain tens of thousands of house cleaners, caregivers and construction workers. It makes you want to go holler at a cop, but he'd probably twist your arm off and throw you in jail."

Likud MK Blumenthal charged with bribery, obstructing justice,
By Zvi Harel, Haaretz (Isrel), Tue., December 2, 2003
"Likud MK Naomi Blumenthal was charged yesterday with bribery during the Likud primary elections last year, and with obstruction of justice in the investigation into the affair. The maximum penalty for these offenses is 10 years in prison. Likud activist Michael Elnekaveh was also indicted on two corruption charges."

[JTR contributor's comment: "What might be the heritage of those nine "Brazilians" who were arrested?" Good question. Maybe vampire bats, aimed -- inexplicably -- at the non-Jewish poor?]
Four Israelis arrested in Brazil, S. Africa for organ trafficking,
By Yuval Dror, Haaretz (Israel), December 5, 2003
"Police in northeastern Brazil have arrested two Israelis and nine Brazilians suspected of participation in an international human organ trafficking organization stretching from South America to South Africa. In South Africa, Durban police have arrested two additional Israelis. The group, allegedly led by the Israelis, is believed to have scoured the cities of Pernambuco state over the past year searching for candidates willing to sell their kidneys, authorities said. "In all, they managed to talk 30 men into selling one of their kidneys," Wilson Salles Damazio, head of the local Federal Police office, said from his office in the state capital of Recife, 2,150 kilometers northeast of Sao Paulo. "Each one received between $6,000 and $10,000." Damazio said an investigation was being conducted to determine the extent of the trafficking. "Those that passed a thorough medical checkup were sent to Durban, South Africa where their kidney was extracted," Damazio said. "After a brief recovery period they were flown back to Brazil." The case also was being investigated in South Africa, where two other Israelis were arrested in Durban, said a spokeswoman for police there, Mary Martins-Engelbrecht. The Israelis arrested in Durban were identified as Agania Robel, 42, who allegedly received a kidney, and Meir Shushan, 50, who allegedly acted as a middleman. They appeared in the Durban Magistrates Court on Wednesday on charges of contravening the Human Tissue Act and must appear again in February, Martins-Engelbrecht said. They were released on bail but their passports have been confiscated, she said. "We cannot exclude the possibility of more arrests. Our investigations are still continuing," she said. Brazilian authorities didn't identify the suspects they arrested. Damazio said they could be sentenced to up to 15 years in jail. The 30 men who sold their kidneys could also sentenced to up to eight years in jail."

[More world predation from the Western world's favorite "democracy." Why bother Israeli doctors with notions of "morality?"]
Half of kidney transplants are illegal,
By Ran Reznick, Haaretz (Israel), December 5, 2003
"About half of all kidney transplants performed on Israelis in recent years were illegal, while most transplant patients received funding from their health maintenance organizations, the Defense Ministry and insurance companies. According to the Health Ministry and hospital records, about half of all Israelis who had kidney transplants in recent years obtained the organ in illegal trade from donors in Israel, Turkey, South America and eastern Europe. Most Israelis had the transplants performed in South Africa. Some 450 patients are waiting for kidney transplants in Israel, but only 160 such operations are performed annually, with the majority or organs coming from deceased donors. The average waiting time for an adult kidney transplant is three to four years, while for children it is seven months. Some 300 Israelis are estimated to have bought kidneys abroad in illegal organ trade in the last four years. Senior doctors said that in some cases, organ traders and mediators negotiated directly with Israeli insurance companies for the illegal payments. Senior doctors and legal experts said Israel is the only western state whose health institutions finance organ trade. Most organ transplant cases involve senior Israeli doctors from large hospitals, doctors said ... The data on kidney transplants was presented by doctors at a conference held last week by the Israeli branch of the American College of Surgery that dealt with the paying of transplant organs. Doctors at the conference said that illegal organ trade is conducted in many countries, but Israel is the only western state whose medical establishment and Health Ministry do not condemn the doctors involved or take legal steps against them. In most states, the purchase of organs is illegal and morally deplored by the medical establishment, and those involved risk losing their license. Prof. Amram Ayalon, the director of the transplants and surgery ward at the Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, said that unions of transplant doctors in Europe, where human organ trade is categorically prohibited, have called for a boycott of Israeli doctors."

Analysis / Not an intelligent move,
By Baruch Kra Fri., Haaretz (Israel) December 12, 2003
"The intifada years have been a "golden" era for both large and small crime organizations that are often national in scope, reaching beyond cities and towns and beyond districts. They expanded illegal gambling enterprises, essentially took over the construction sand industry - stealing sea sand wherever they found it - tightened their ties with the gray lending market, learned how to run extortion protection rackets, and heavily entered the sex slave industry by trading women. During this time, the police invested most of their efforts on the national security problem, which only deteriorated. This has had a terrible impact on the police's image, which is important for the sake of public confidence. Tel Aviv Police Chief Yossi Sedbone and other commanders have learned to recite cliches as they stand beside charred buses with the cries of the wounded in the background. "It's impossible to stop the lone terrorist," Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki often says, and the public does not blame the police for the attacks: The police are not to blame for the absence of a security fence on the border. But now, the police's upper echelons know there's no single agency within the force that can be assigned the task of eradicating the underworld gangs. In 2000 and 2001, the police did not have the time or resources to investigate the undercurrents of the underworld families and their rivalries. As long as their wars did not harm innocent bystanders - "civilians" - the issue was not a priority given the weekly security crises arising from terror alerts and terror successes. Therefore, the "good families" understood that the police would not interfere in their battles, and it did not take long for crowded streets to become the scenes of potential combat between gangs."

Background / Assassins no longer avoid hurting innocents,
By Jonathan Lis Fri., Haaretz (Israel), December 12, 2003
"Since 1995, 10 passersby have been killed in the cross fire of gangland wars between criminals in Israel, and seven of them have been in the past year - three yesterday - while dozens have been wounded. Despite the proliferation of incidents from Ashkelon to Hadera this year, the police say there is no wave of interconnected incidents of counter-attacks but rather a coincidence of a number of power struggles between various gangs. Yesterday's violence shows just how difficult it is for the police to deal with the assassinations. If in the past the assassins waited in ambush for their targets in "sterile" areas, making sure no innocents were nearby, the recent series of assassinations and attempted killings shows that the hired killers no longer worry about harming innocents. The police, which often managed to foil attempted assassinations when they took place in isolated places, can no longer predict where the assassin will choose as a venue for an attack. Thus, only a month ago, Daniel and Ella Nahshon of Pardes Hanna were killed when a hand grenade blew up in a Hadera used car lot where they were shopping for a car. Sarah Ben Adiri got into an elevator on Yitzhak Sadeh Street in Tel Aviv in August and was killed by a bomb hidden in the elevator shaft, apparently meant for a known underworld figure who has an office in the building. Shaked Shelhov, 16, of Ashkelon, was shot to death when someone tried killing her boyfriend, also a known criminal. "The real tragedy in these cases, and especially the one in Tel Aviv, is not the assassination attempt by the criminals but the fact the assassins knew they were going to hurt innocent people," said a senior police officer yesterday. "Their cold-bloodedness is very frightening, and it makes it very difficult for the police to foil them. They are daring and ruthless and don't care about anything."

[Why isn't this kind of Middle East "terrorism" featured in Western news?]
Failed hit on underworld boss kills 3,
By Roni Singer, Yuval Azoulay and Gideon Alon, Haaretz (Israel) December 12, 2003
"Three people were killed yesterday afternoon and at least 30 were injured in a gangland Tel Aviv explosion apparently aimed at killing underworld kingpin Ze'ev Rosenstein, who escaped with slight injuries to his hand and leg. The explosion just outside a foreign currency exchange shop a few doors from the busy downtown intersection of Yehuda Halevy Street and Allenby Street killed Moshe Mizrahi, 28, from Eilat, who was passing by when the bomb went off; Tel Aviv resident Rahamim Suriya, 43, who lived a few doors down from the foreign currency shop; and 19-year-old Naftali Meged, son of the owner of the shop. A Tel Aviv court slapped a gag order on all details regarding the explosive device itself, but reports earlier in the day said that the device was professionally made. Shortly after police arrived on the scene, and even before they learned of Rosenstein's presence there, they noted that the bomb was powerful but did not include the nuts, bolts and nails common to terror bombs. Several cars on the street were damaged as a result of the explosion, and a porch on a nearby building collapsed. In the last year, 10 innocent bystanders have been killed and dozens wounded in the cross fire of gangland battles. The bombers' obvious disregard for civilian lives, was described by Police Commissioner Shlomo Aharonishki as the "equivalent to the Park Hotel bombing ... which was followed by Operation Defensive Shield," a theme picked up later in the day by Public Security Minister Tzachi Hanegbi, who promised "an all-out police offensive" against organized crime." Prime Minister Ariel Sharon announced that the upcoming cabinet meeting on Sunday would begin with a discussion of the organized crime problem. Just last week, Rosenstein, long described as a major Israeli crime kingpin, was being held on suspicion he had ordered an underworld slaying. But the contract killer who claimed that Rosenstein had hired him was proved by another witness to be lying, and police were forced to release Rosenstein ... "The number one intelligence target for the Israeli police," as he's often described, Rosenstein owns casinos in Europe and is believed to be allied with the Netanya-based Abutbul family, whose patriarch Felix was murdered last summer outside an Abutbul-owned casino in Prague. Rosenstein's rivals and competitors are the Alperon and Abergil families. The current round of fighting goes back to an attempted murder of Nissim Alperon, who survived the attempt and came to believe Rosenstein was behind it. Rosenstein has survived at least six attempted hits on his life since 1996."

News Report on Illegal Outposts Prompts Calls for Probe of WZO,
FORWARD, JANUARY 02, 2004
"American Jewish communal leaders are calling for an investigation into the activities of the World Zionist Organization, a Jerusalem-based confederation of Diaspora Zionist groups, following an Israeli news report alleging that the body was funneling money to illegal settlement outposts. The Israeli daily Ha'aretz reported on December 26 that Israeli government ministries were using the WZO as a conduit for government funds used to pay for trailers and permanent structures built on hilltops in the West Bank without government authorization. WZO officials denied the Ha'aretz report, saying that the body's settlement division, which they say is fully funded by the Israeli government, only supports activities beyond the Green Line that are legal. According to the Ha'aretz report, government funding of illegal outposts was acknowledged last week by Israel's deputy defense minister, Ze'ev Boim, in testimony to the Knesset's state control committee. "What was not publicized from that meeting," wrote veteran Ha'aretz political reporter Hannah Kim, was the itemization of the funding, including "the financing of the cost of caravans and even the erection of permanent structures by the Housing Ministry and the Jewish Agency." The reference to the Jewish Agency was corrected to read "World Zionist Organization" in the paper's English version. Conflating the two institutions is commonplace in Israeli conversation and reportage. "If it's true, I think it's horrendous," said Seymour Reich, a former president of the American Zionist Movement, the WZO's main American affiliate. "It sounds like the Iran-Contra situation," said Reich, who is also a former chairman of the Conference of Presidents of Major American Jewish Organizations. "It's harmful to the image of the WZO, and particularly to American Zionists who are part of the WZO. It gives an image of an improper use of money and putting a roadblock in the road map." Other critics included Rabbi Eric Yoffie, president of the newly renamed Union for Reform Judaism, whose Arza/World Union offshoot is a member of the WZO ... The WZO, founded by Theodor Herzl in 1897 as a vehicle for creating a Jewish state, is a confederation of Zionist organizations around the world that support Israel financially and politically. Its offshoot, the Jewish Agency for Israel, with which it shares offices and executive officers, is a social-service agency largely funded with charitable dollars from American Jewish philanthropic federations, channeled through United Jewish Communities. The WZO and the Jewish Agency operated as a single institution governed by the Zionist organizations until 1971, when they were separated in a complex agreement that created a separate Jewish Agency board dominated by philanthropy leaders ... Critics said the alleged illegal activity — by an organization theoretically controlled by American and other Diaspora Jews — is particularly egregious at a time when Israel has promised its closest ally, the United States, that it will comply with the urgent request to dismantle unauthorized outposts. News of the WZO's alleged involvement in funding the outposts shocked and angered members of the world Zionist movement, who said it could create the appearance that American Zionists stand in opposition with their own government. "I believe it's an abuse of the Zionist ideals to be doing this," said Yoffie, a onetime director of the Reform Zionist movement. "All Zionist organization parties that participate in the WZO are in some sense implicated. It discredits the WZO." Several executives of the Jewish federated system, which donates roughly $200 million yearly to the Jewish Agency, endeavored to distance North American federations from the WZO ... Bromberg, executive director of Meretz USA, lambasted the WZO and called its alleged illegal activity one example of "a general corruption of principle and oversight that exists throughout the Israeli body politic."

ISRAEL: Norwegian ambassador's house bugged,
by Av Carin Pettersson og Øyvind Ludt, Nettavisen (Norway), January 20, 2004
"The Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon knew all the details of a secret meeting at home of Mona Juul, the Norwegian ambassador in Israel. During a debate in the Israeli national assembly Knesset, Ariel Sharon himself revealed a possible bugging of Juul’s house in the north of Tel Aviv. According to the Norwegian paper VG, Sharon made accusations against the opposition leader Shimon Peres because he allegedly had secret meetings with the Palestinian Prime Minister Ahmed Qurie. Present at the meeting with Quire were allegedly Saeb Erekat, negotiating minister, Terje Rød Larsen, UN’s special delegate, Shimon Peres and two of his advisors. In order to prove that the meeting indeed took place, Sharon described in detail what happened during the meeting at the Norwegian ambassador’s house. The opposition politicians in Knesset became infuriated and accused Sharon of having used the intelligence service to bug his political opponents in Israel. «How do you know all this? Was the meeting bugged?» screamed Yossi Sarid from the left wing party Meretz. Sharon explained that he had gotten the information from one of the people present on the meeting, but he did not manage to convince the opposition. «It is unbelievable that the prime minister of a democratic nation would use intelligence information to aid him politically and to create an impression that all meetings with the Palestinian authorities are illegal,” stated Peres according to the Jerusalem Post."

Businessman Charged With Bribing Sharon,
Earthlink (from Associated Press, Janury 21, 2004
"An Israeli businessman was indicted Wednesday on charges of bribing Ariel Sharon with hundreds of thousands of dollars, further complicating the prime minister's clouded legal situation. Analysts said the indictment against real-estate developer David Appel increases the chances that Sharon may face charges, which the Supreme Court has ruled would compel him to leave office pending the outcome of a trial. Increased pressure on Sharon could further endanger the already moribund peace process, destabilize the coalition government and trigger a gloves-off battle for succession in the upper ranks of the Likud, politicians and analysts said. Sharon was not charged with any criminal wrongdoing, and officials in his office said he was conducting business as usual Wednesday. "The prime minister continues to work as scheduled and has not changed anything in his work," an official said on condition of anonymity. Nonetheless, opposition lawmakers called on the prime minister to step down. "He should resign," said former Finance Minister Avraham Shochat of the Labor Party. "He is polluting the atmosphere." Appel was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates court for allegedly giving Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to promote an ambitious real-estate project in Greece when Sharon was foreign minister in 1999 and to help rezone urban land near Tel Aviv before and during Sharon's term as prime minister. Sharon was allegedly asked to use his influence to push forward both projects, although neither project in Greece nor the land deal near Tel Aviv came to fruition ... The indictment also charged Appel with bribing Vice Premier Ehud Olmert to promote the Greek project when Olmert was mayor of Jerusalem in the late 1990s. It also charged that Sharon's son, Gilad, received hundreds of thousands of dollars in consultation fees for the Greek project. Prosecutors believe these funds were used to bribe Ariel Sharon."

[The definitive Criminal State: the Jewish Ethnic Bandwagon. Israel, the Beloved.]
Mizrahi: Public sector corruption is strategic threat to society,
By Baruch Kra, Haaretz (Israel), February 3, 2004
"Corruption in the public sector is presenting a rising strategic threat to Israeli society, Police Major General Moshe Mizrahi, head of the Criminal Investigations Department, said Sunday. "The moment the public loses its faith in its government, it can be expected to take to the streets in protest. Even if our situation is not close to what is happening in Argentina, it is worth keeping an eye on what is happening there," he said. Speaking to members of the police crime scene department, Mizrahi said "the balance between the public sector's defensive strength and the citizen's defensive strength has been destroyed." He also spoke about the sophisticated and progressive phenomenon of organized crime versus the police's paltry resources and then discussed the difficulties faced in investigating public figures. Mizrahi noted that those being questioned sometimes "lose their tongues on the way to the stand. "Managing an investigation has not been an easy thing to do over the past number of years because the playing field has changed a little bit," Mizrahi said, adding that the police is not successfully maintain what he called "human evidence… because its deterrence and defense abilities have been undermined." He described instances in which interested parties have been able to successfully control public opinion in an effort to disrupt legal proceedings. He cited as an example how certain interests successfully deflected public attention in the Nimrodi affair from the serious charges involved."

[Israel is third in the world for postal drug smuggling? Israel is a tiny country; it only has somewhere in the neighborhood of 4 million Jews. 915,000 Ecstasy hits? 50,000 kilograms of cocaine? No wonder the Israeli army shoots at everything in sight.]
Israel ranked third in world in postal drug smuggling,
By Zohar Blumenkrantz, Haaretz (Israel), February 8, 2004
"Israel is third is the world in the smuggling of drugs through its postal system, a Knesset committee dealing with the fight against drugs revealed on Sunday. The committee, headed by MK Ayoub Kara (Likud), visited the customs facilities at Ben-Gurion International Airport on Sunday. The tour was attended by MK Nissim Zeev (Shas), government representatives, the anti-drug authority, the head of the customs authority's drug smuggling division and a representative of the customs authority's administration. The tour participants were explained the sophisticated methods used to smuggle drugs into Israel and were presented with figures on the scale of drug smuggling into Israel via overseas flights. In 2003, 915,000 Ecstasy tablets, 32,000 doses of LSD, 14,500 kilograms of Indian hashish, 50,000 kilograms of cocaine and 2,000 kilograms of marijuana were smuggled into Israel via the air. Eighty tons of cigarettes were also smuggled into the country."

Panel hears grim details on child prostitution in Israel,
By Zvi Zrahiya, Haaretz, February 9, 2004
"Over 1,000 minors around the country are involved in prostitution, with their parent's encouragement, the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee heard Monday. Dorit Brightman of the ELEM Youth in Distress non-profit organization told the committee that many of the minors are forced into prostitution because of the dire economic situation, and some have even died as a result. The ELEM representatives also told the MKs that two or three children are known to each local authority to be involved in prostitution. "In addition, there are numerous youths who offer sex services in exchange for money and thus there are over 1,000 youths involved in prostitution," the representatives said."

2 men arrested for posing as terror victims,
By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, Jerusalem Post, Febraury 3, 2004
"Two Jewish residents of Jerusalem who disguised themselves as terror victims in order to receive monetary donations from a Christian group in the city were under arrest Tuesday, police said. Jerusalem police's fraud squad began investigating the scam around a month ago after receiving information that a number of people had arrived at the central Jerusalem offices of the organization, 'Christian Friends of Israel,' bandaged - and sometimes in wheelchairs - asking for money for medical treatment for their terror-related 'injuries.' Police then installed cameras opposite the organization's offices, which filmed a man bandaged from head-to-toe coming into the office. The man claimed that he had been injured in Thursday's suicide bombing on a Jerusalem bus, and asked for monetary assistance. As soon as he left the building, the suspect took off his bandages and began counting the several thousand shekel donation he received. Police suspect that as many as 11 people may have been involved in the scam, which, in all, defrauded the organization of tens of thousands of shekels. The two men detained in the case so far, scam ringleader David Deri, 22, and Avshalom Nagar,21, were remanded in custody Tuesday for one to two days by the Jerusalem Magistrate's court, after which time they will be placed under house arrest, police said. The Christian organization exploited in the scam refused to comment Monday. Police said that more arrests are expected in the case in the coming days."

[World Jewish/Israeli dominance of computers and the Internet, here. The Internet has the potential to become a vast Jewish spy network. It may already be.]
Microsoft launches damage control after code leaks from Israeli source,
By Galit Yemini, Haaretz (Isrel), February 19, 2004
"The developments in the affair of the leaking of the source code for the Windows operating system continue to make headlines around the world. Tuesday evening, Microsoft officially confirmed that the leak came from a computer at the Israeli Mainsoft software company; but at this stage, the investigation is still underway and no further details are available. Microsoft is investigating the leak in coordination with the American Federal Bureau of Investigations, and when the probe is complete, Microsoft will publish its findings. Microsoft emphasized that the leak was not the result of a breach of Microsoft's network, nor was it caused by the open code programs under which Microsoft's code is given to big clients such as governments and strategic organizations. The code was given to Mainsoft just as it is given to other Microsoft business partners that are developing software based on Microsoft products. Just three days after the leak, hackers have already taken advantage of a security flaw discovered in parts of the code that was leaked to the Internet, and have created the first virus based on this flaw. The flaw is in the Explorer browser that is part of Windows. The storm broke a few days ago, when parts of the source code for Microsoft's Windows 2000 operating system were leaked to the Internet. The source code exposes the innards of the operating system, revealing exactly how it works. Anyone who discovers the source code can do as he pleases with the operating system. Microsoft has been making its living for years from the sale of software licenses; its copyrights to the software are on that valuable source code - the core of the software. When Microsoft gives the code to business partners like Mainsoft or big clients like governments, the code is marked with a unique "fingerprint" for each client, so that if the code is accidentally leaked, the source of the leak will be discovered immediately. "Microsoft's greatest fear stemming from the leaking of the code is not a violation of its copyrights," explains Jimmy Schwarzkopf, research director of Meta-Group (Israel). "This is a problem that will eventually be solved in court, because they are protected from a copyright perspective. The problem is the protection against hackers. Microsoft will find it difficult to protect itself. If the code gets into the hands of hackers, their ability to create viruses will be infinite. That is something that will be very hard for Microsoft to combat." According to the various reports, the Mainsoft computer from which the code was leaked is the computer used by Eyal Alalouf, Mainsoft's director of technology, who has so far maintained media silence and is refusing to respond. Mainsoft is an Israeli start-up that develops software for converting Microsoft applications to run on the Unix operating system. Mainsoft has already been responsible for one small scandal, when it was reported in 2000 that the company was developing software for converting Microsoft applications to run on the Linux open code operating system - a code that Microsoft refuses to support to this day, and which is considered the natural outgrowth of the Unix closed code. Mainsoft, whose headquarters are in San Jose, New Mexico, and whose R&D center is in Israel, has been a partner of Microsoft's since 1994. Mainsoft has disclosed only that it will cooperate fully with Microsoft and the authorities in investigating the leak. Microsoft and FBI investigators are due to arrive in Israel over the next few days to continue the investigation. "This story is causing tremendous harm to the Israeli high-tech industry," says Schwarzkopf. "If it turns out that the Israelis are responsible for the leaking of the code, and that it was done maliciously and not by accident, it will burn a great many Israelis in the industry. Israelis have a reputation around the world for cutting corners anyway, and Israelis are working very hard to change this negative image. If the investigations prove that the suspicions were correct, it will not be good for us."

Mainsoft [See above article] executive officers,
President and CEO: Yaacov Cohen
Vice President, Products: Philippe Cohen
Vice President, Technology: Eyal Alaluf

Haredi punks,
By DANIEL BEN-TAL, Jeruslalm Post, February 16, 2004
"Delinquency among ultra-Orthodox yeshiva dropouts is a growing phenomenon Saturday night in Zion Square. Hundreds of teenagers mill around, chatting, laughing, playing guitar, eyeing the opposite sex. There is a hodgepodge of vibrant young Jerusalemites: religious and secular, prissy schoolkids and hippy wanabees, locals and Americans. Good kids from good homes. Six gruff teenagers in black kippot elbow their way through the happy crowd: "shababniks," yeshiva dropouts who live on the edges of ultra-Orthodox society. One of them bullies a fair-skinned, lank-haired teenager - first for a cigarette, then a light. "This piece of s***t lighter doesn't work - you can stick it up your a***," he snaps angrily. "A shababnik is a kid from a haredi family who thinks secular but wears a black kippa," says religious teenager Shmuel Baluka, who's sitting on a low wall in Kikar Zion, spitting sunflower seeds onto the sidewalk. As a provocatively dressed punk-ess no more than 16 years old saunters past, Baluka and his friends launch a series of sexual taunts in a clumsy attempt to arouse her youthful hormones. "You think religious people don't have impulses too?" he asks. "Times have changed - haredim aren't what they used to be. We're more open to secular influences," says Baluka, a grocery store delivery boy from Neveh Ya'acov. "Religious girls are the biggest whores," adds one of his friends, to a chorus of bitter laughter. Most Shababniks (the name derives from the Arabic term for Mandate-era Muslims who deserted their religion) are religious teenagers who could not handle the demands of full-time yeshiva study. No longer welcome in their own homes, some wind up living on the street or in government-run youth hostels. Ultra-orthodox society has been slow in recognizing the phenomenon. A public letter sent in May 1998 by a group of haredi educators to several leading rabbis stressed the dimensions of the problem: "Thousands of former yeshiva students have crossed the line, leaving the yeshiva to wander the streets, movie theaters, city squares, and anywhere that a yeshiva boy should not be... We are not speaking about the marginal types; even those from the best homes, the most promising students. In recent times these youths have tarnished our name." Bands of roaming shababniks have reportedly turned some sections of Bnei Brak into violent crime zones where honest citizens are afraid to walk the streets. In Jerusalem, shababniks have been reported harassing women, intimidating shopkeepers and passersby, and being involved in petty theft. Several have gone beyond delinquency into serious crimes including extortion, fraud, armed robbery, male prostitution, and even murder - as in the August 1997 killing of an Arab gas station attendant in the capital's Sheikh Jarah neighborhood. One haredi gang leader nicknamed "Chupchik" was recently convicted on 21 counts of auto theft, fraud and disturbing the peace, all committed within a year of quitting the Mir Yeshiva in Jerusalem. Two shababniks were arrested on February 3 after turning up at the offices of the Christian Friends of Israel charity organization heavily bandaged, claiming that they were injured in the previous week's suicide bus bombing in Rehavia, and asking for money. Alleged scam ringleader David Deri, 22, and Avshalom Nagar, 21, remain under house arrest pending their trial ... Yet very few desert their Orthodox lifestyle ... "The fact that they are not alone gives them legitimacy. Some are even proud to be called shababniks... about a quarter are girls. I see them following secular men in their 30s into apartment blocks. There are 13 year-old haredi girls with alcohol problems already - they'll never find their place in society." As director of the haredi department at the Jerusalem Municipality's Division for the Advancement of Youth, Baruch Maschkowski is on the front line of the struggle to save these lost souls. "Haredi society used to sweep such phenomena under the carpet, but can no longer afford to," he told In Jerusalem. "The haredi world is undergoing fundamental social changes, with increasing exposure to secular Israel. There was a time when the haredim didn't want the cultural, social and welfare services of secular society."

[Israel is a corrupt Hellhole, in many respects. This Israeli author makes that concession with the twisted addenda that he blames the eternal scapegoat: the goyim -- the British, and eveywhere else in Europe Jews came from to apartheid Israel. So why are Jews in Israel so corrupt? Why in world is corruption in Jewry's Beloved Homeland institutionalized? Why, because of non-Jews, of course! Mr. Pasko, look to your Talmud. Look to your Jewish history. Look to your Jewish identity itself. Look to historical Jewish scheming and their undermining of existing non-Jewish social systems: one moral standard for Jews, and quite another for the non-Jewish neighbor. Then affix blame.]
Reforming Israel's Culture of Corruption,
by Ariel Natan Pasko, Israel National News, Mar 9, 2004
"The daily newspaper headlines ring out, "Sharon Gets Questionable Loan." Israeli television news tells us, "Former Prime Minister Barak Investigated For Phony Organizations." The radio blasts, "Knesset Members Accused Of Double Voting." Israeli Internet sites let us know that, "Former Knesset Member investigated for bribery during primaries." Well they're politicians, so what do you expect? Then, every so often, the Central Bureau of Statistics reminds us that the heads of companies in Israel - including state owned companies - are making gosh awful lots of money. But who cares? The workers at the Electric and Water companies are the highest paid salaried workers in Israel - about twice the national average and three times the salary of teachers - and they are public regulated utilities. Don't forget that the workers at Israel Electric Corp. also get free, unlimited electricity to boot. Now you know why electricity prices keep rising in Israel ... A small clique of oligarchs have run the union from the start, making the decision to strike or not, to accept the terms of a new agreement or not, as if it was their private fiefdom, without the workers', i.e. members', permission ... Details of payments and bonuses for central bank staffers are generally difficult to acquire due to the bank's practice of obfuscation over employment conditions. For example, it was learned the Governor of the Bank of Israel, David Klein, received an "efficiency bonus" of some 80,000 shekels in 2000, his first year heading the central bank, for his work as a senior official the previous year. The issue of "efficiency" bonuses has recently been a hot topic, and it has even reached the Labor Courts due to the annulment of the bonus, which was paid quarterly to bank workers, by the Finance Ministry's Wages Director Yuval Rachlevsky. Senior bank employees are among the best paid in the public sector; they received an average efficiency bonus of 64,000 shekels a year until mid-2002, when Rachlevsky put an end to the practice. Senior bank staffers also get a company car, which they are free to use for their personal use. However, they are also paid a monthly "car maintenance" fee for the vehicle's upkeep. Such a payment is usually made to civil servants who have to use their own vehicles for work purposes. It's just another perk at the Bank of Israel, I guess. There isn't just scandal at the national political level in Israel, but in local politics as well. A new 22-page report, issued by the Finance Ministry, accuses the Jerusalem Municipality of overpaying at least 80 senior employees millions of shekels/month, in contravention of the law and past agreements with the Treasury. The newly elected mayor has appointed six deputies at the enormous monthly salary of 40,000 shekels each. Under public pressure, because of a growing budget deficit and a planned 3% property tax hike, the Jerusalem Municipality spokesman recently announced that a planned 5% cut in the salaries of the deputy mayors would be carried out. But a 5% wage cut leaves them with a monthly salary of 38,000 shekels, five-and-a-half times the average wage in Israel. This, at a time when there is near-record unemployment, a long recession, and serious national government budget cuts. Don't worry; later it was learned that the deputy mayors turned the proposal down. All this is the "norm" in Israel. Distorted wage levels, massive perks, breaking rules; sounds to me like a third-world country. Israel, as I've said many times before, is not an information society. Although politically democratic, with a mixed economy leaning further and further toward free enterprise, Israel lacks a culture of transparency and accountability. This inability to find out information leads to cronyism - in Israel called protectzia - protection. For example, someone has a friend, who "knows" someone else that can get you a job. No public tender for the position in a local government office, no need to "apply" and take tests for civil service, just go meet Mr. X. A couple of years ago, I came across a description of the British civil service's bureaucratic culture. The operative phrase was, "need to know." That is, give out as little information as possible to the public or other levels of the bureaucracy, or even limit information to politicians. Share information only on a "need to know" basis. Suddenly, I realized, many of the "Israeli evils" were in fact probably leftovers from the British Mandate days, that ubiquitous "Israeli mentality". Where else would Israel have learned bureaucratic culture, if not from the British Mandate Administration? Oh yes, most immigrants to the Mandate or later Israel, until at least the 1960s, were either from Eastern Europe - Soviet Russia, Poland, Romania, etc. - or, the Arab Middle East and North Africa, also not great bastions of democracy and transparency. The culture of corruption in Israel is probably not due to some "genetic" weakness of Israelis, but has a lot to due with a lack of transparent institutions and accountability. Now for the reason that I decided to write this article.... Breezing through the news recently, I read an article on "corruption" in the non-profit sector. What disappoints me is that these are the people who provide vital non-governmental health, education, and welfare services. These are the organizations that help the weak, but are getting fat by doing so. The article, based on a leaked Interior Ministry report, described the exaggerated salaries of the top officials in the non-profit sector. The Efrati Committee completed this report almost a year ago. And to make maters worse, it's been presented to Interior Minister Avraham Poraz - from the Shinui Party - whose free market and clean government election campaign seems a distant memory. Poraz hasn't done anything to implement the recommendations of the report yet. Surprised? There are about 13,000 Non-Profit Organizations (NPOs) or Non Governmental Organizations (NGOs) in Israel. In some, salaries of the three top officials make up 50% of total expenditures. In the majority of organizations, the report said, salaries make up about 80% of expenses. Anyone familiar with business, the non-profit sector, and economy in modern Western democracies today should realize that this flagrant theft. ... Israel must reform itself until scandal and corruption are an exception, like elsewhere, not the way things are done. Lack of transparency and accountability, and rampant corruption in business and public life, must not be ignored, tolerated, or worse, quietly praised, for someone's ability "to get more for himself or herself". Success in the modern global economy requires reform, stability in Israel's society necessitates reform, and Jewish ethics and tradition demand reforming Israel's "culture of corruption".

Police Reveal Israel's Bloody Second War,
Scotsman (Scotland), March 9, 2004
"Police offered a rare inside look at Israel’s increasingly bloody mob wars today after arresting four suspected hit men from Belarus and seized a large weapons stash in their hideout, including shoulder-held missiles, explosives and silencers. An MPs father and several alleged crime bosses were among the contract killers’ would-be targets, police said. Israel, with a million immigrants from the former Soviet Union, is considered a major outpost of the Russian mafia. A recent string of gangland bombings and shootings which have killed or maimed innocent bystanders have put increasing pressure on the police to wage war against organised crime. The last straw came in December, when a bomb aimed at alleged mafia don Zeev Rosenstein – the seventh attempt on his life – left him with scratches but killed three passers-by and wounded 18 in Tel Aviv. Three days later, the government ordered a crackdown on organised crime. Police said today that in recent months they rounded up 41 people on charges such as attempted murder, drug-smuggling, trafficking in women and extortion. In the biggest catch, detectives arrested four men from Belarus and 14 Israelis on suspicion they tried to kill several mob bosses. In the apartment of the suspected hit men in a Tel Aviv suburb, officers found pistols, silencers, assault rifles, anti-tank missiles, explosives, night vision equipment and hand grenades. They also seized a stock of disguises and makeup. “This was a collection with a deadly potential on an unprecedented scale,” police said in a statement. Tel Aviv police chief Yossi Sedbon said there were worrisome signs that Israel’s underworld is taking its cues from Palestinian militants. “There are the characteristics of terror here,” Sedbon said. “We found bombs with metal fragments embedded in them, which is typical of terrorist bombs. It worries us a great deal because many bystanders could be injured by a bomb like that.” The men from Belarus entered Israel from Egypt, and reports said they were apparently hired by one of Israel’s crime families to carry out revenge attacks. The arrests were made public today after a court-imposed gag order was lifted. Among the hit men’s apparent targets were Shoni Gavrieli, father of MP Inbal Gavrieli from Prime Minister Ariel Sharon’s Likud Party, as well as several reputed mob bosses. Shoni Gavrieli has denied reports that he runs a string of illegal gambling houses."

Indictment Recommended for Israel's Sharon,
Earthlink (from Associated Press), March 28, 2004
" Israel's state attorney recommended Sunday that Prime Minister Ariel Sharon be indicted for bribe-taking, officials said, in what is seen as a major - but not final - step toward his possible resignation. Such an unprecedented indictment of an Israeli prime minister could derail Sharon's proposal to withdraw from much of the Gaza Strip - or entice him to move more quickly on the "disengagement" plan, which has broad support in Israel. Sharon is meeting with President Bush in two weeks to try to win U.S. backing for a Gaza withdrawal. In Gaza, the new Hamas leader branded Bush "the enemy of God, the enemy of Islam," but stopped short of threatening to attack U.S. targets in retaliation for last week's assassination by Israel of the Islamic militant group's founder. Israeli opposition leaders demanded that Sharon step aside while under the cloud of indictment - but the prime minister's aides said he planned to conduct business as usual. In the event of an indictment, there would be considerable pressure on Sharon to suspend himself or resign. The prime minister has been plagued by corruption allegations since he was elected in 2001 ... Police have been investigating Sharon on suspicion he accepted $690,000 in bribes from Israeli businessman David Appel to help promote a tourism project in Greece and rezone urban land in Tel Aviv. Sharon allegedly received bribes as foreign minister in 1999, and after he was elected prime minister. Appel was indicted in January for allegedly bribing Sharon, but investigators still have to prove that Sharon knew he was being bribed. Sharon's son, Gilad, allegedly was paid large sums of money so that his father would use his influence to push the project forward."

US set to put Israel back on intellectual property watch list,
by Ran Dagoni, Globes (Israel), March 31, 2004
"The US Trade Representative (USTR) is about to put Israel back on its priority watch list of countries in violation of intellectual property rights. A final decision is expected within days, US sources told "Globes". Last year, the USTR upgraded Israel to a less restrictive watch list, after keeping it on the priority watch list for six consecutive years. A return to the priority watch list, despite Israel's legislative and enforcement efforts, which the USTR praised in its annual report for 2003, will damage Israel's image as a law-abiding country, and mitigate its achievements in intellectual property rights in recent years. The US sources believe that the USTR will accept the claims of Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and International Intellectual Property Alliance (IIPA), which defends the rights of music artists. PhRMA and IIPA have both been struggling for years against what they call the continuous violation of intellectual property rights of US companies by Israeli companies. The US sources said the main dispute is over the intellectual property rights of US ethical drug manufacturers. PhRMA submitted documents to the USTR alleging that Israel's Ministry of Health provides Israeli generic drug makers with documents of US pharmaceutical companies originally sent to the ministry for the licensing of their products for sale in Israel. The Americans claim that the Ministry of Health's policy makes it easier for Israel generic drug makers to use the documentation of the US companies, thereby expediting the Israeli companies' R&D for their generic drugs. PhRMA claims that the release of documents to Israel's generic drug makers before the patents on the ethical drugs expire enables the Israeli companies to launch generic versions of the ethical drugs immediately upon the expiration of the ethical drugs."

Internet sex prowler indicted,
By Eli Ashkenazi, Haaretz (Israel), April 5, 2004z
"An indictment was filed yesterday in the Nazareth District against Motti Lahav, 40, from Migdal Haemek, for sodomy and sexual abuse against three youths, two males and a female, whom he may have lured in Internet chats. The police were alerted five months ago when the teenage girl from the north, filed a rape complaint against the suspect. Police discovered that Lahav's was engaged youngsters in ICQ Internet chats, presenting himself as a 20 year old. He also sent photographs showing him at half his real age. The suspect arranged to meet the girl after she broke up with her boyfriend. He turned up at her residence, and raped her on two consecutive days. Investigators established two other cases of sexual abuse against this victim. One of the teenage male victims met the suspect after Lahav promised he would find work for him as a DJ. The other youth met Lahav at a club in Haifa. In both cases Lahav allegedly sodomized and abused the victims."

Ex-minister may have made other attempts to smuggle drugs,
By Roni Singer, Haaretz (Israel), August 31, 2004
"Investigators from the Tel Aviv District Police are looking into allegations that former energy minister Gonen Segev tried to smuggle drugs from the Netherlands into Israel prior to his arrest in April on similar suspicions. Segev was indicted some two months ago for attempting to smuggle some 32,000 Ecstasy pills into Israel. Two of Segev's business partners - Moshe Verner and attorney Ariel Friedman - have also been indicted in the drug smuggling affair. In the wake of information that came to the Israel Police recently, Segev was questioned yesterday in connection with an alleged second drug smuggling attempt."

Former minister Segev sentenced to one year's
probation,
By YAAKOV KATZ, Jerusalem Post, September 27, 2004
"The Tel Aviv Magistrates Court on Tuesday sentenced former [Israeli] energy minister Gonen Segev to probation for one year and a NIS 50,000 fine on charges of credit card fraud and attempting to receive benefits fraudulently. Segev was convicted in the court on Monday ... Segev, who is also standing trial for allegedly attempting to smuggle 30,000 Ecstasy pills into Israel from the Netherlands, reported that his credit card was missing during a trip to Hong Kong in November 2003 but carried on buying groceries with the card and using it to take out cash from ATMs. Upon returning to Israel, Segev filed a several-thousand shekel suit with the Isracrad credit card company in order to retrieve the money that he said was charged to the card following his report that it went missing. However, an investigation launched by the credit card company abroad revealed a picture of an ATM where Segev is seen using the card to take out money after his report that the card was stolen. After presented with the evidence against him, Segev dropped the suit."

U.S. Seeks Extradition of Top Israeli Crime Boss,
by Tshar Rotem and Jonathan Lis, Haaretz (Israel), November 13, 2004
"Israel's most wanted underworld boss, Ze'ev Rosenstein, was arrested this week in Tel Aviv, in the wake of an extradition request from the United States. Rosenstein is wanted by the American authorities for allegedly heading a multi-million-dollar business trafficking in Ecstasy between Europe and the U.S. Rosenstein's lawyer, Benny Nahari, was also put under house arrest on charges of attempting to obstruct justice. It is believed that Rosenstein's arrest was facilitated by evidence from four Israelis apprehended since 2001 who had 700,000 Ecstasy pills in their possession. The investigation was carried out by the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) in Miam ... The decision of American and Israeli law-enforcers to cooperate in an attempt to nab the alleged drug kingpin and put an end to organized crime grew out of an international police conference held in January 2001 in Tel Aviv. This cooperation bore fruit some six months later when police in Queens, New York arrested two Israelis, David Roash and Yisrael Ashkenazi, in an upscale New York apartment with 700,000 Ecstasy pills and large sums of money in their possession - one of the biggest hauls in New York's history. The two admitted that they had left Jaffa to carry out a deal at the behest of Rosenstein. Roash and Ashkenazi were later interrogated by a joint team from the DEA and Tel Aviv police. This led to the arrest of a Colombian accomplice. Tel Aviv police then began operating an agent, Motti Cohen, an Israeli living in Madrid who worked for Rosenstein. Cohen told them he had been conscripted by Rosenstein's assistant, Shemtov Mikhtavi, to get Colombian assassins to murder rival mobsters Yaakov and Nissim Alperon. Tel Aviv police detained the two would-be assassins when they landed in Tel Aviv but they left shortly afterward."

Four years of cooperation pay off,
by Focus / Roni Singer, Haaretz (Israel), November 12, 2004
"For a long time, American law enforcers have been aware that the major cocaine and heroin dealers are located in South America, whereas the kingpins of the Ecstasy trade - a drug manufactured mainly in Europe and particularly in Holland and Belgium - are Israelis."

[Poland? Does that infer "Poles?" It is common knowledge that the drug ecstasy is a world Jewish/Israeli monopoly.]
Oz police in biggest ecstasy drug haul,
Yahoo! News, November 2004
"Australian police and customs officials have seized 820 kg (1,800 lb) of ecstasy tablets and powder stashed inside a bakery oven, in the country's biggest ever haul of the drug. The ecstasy, known chemically as MDMA and valued at about A$200 million (82 million pounds) was packed into bags and hidden in the wall and base cavities of the oven, which was air freighted from Germany to Sydney last month. A customs X-ray revealed suspicious packages and a physical inspection found 62 bags containing about 3 million tablets and 115 kg of powder. Police on Sunday said two people have been charged in connection with the shipment. Australian Federal Police Commissioner Mick Keelty said he believed the shipment had probably come from Poland. "Most of the MDMA we get in Australia is in fact sourced from Europe," Keelty told the Nine Network. "In this particular case the air freight came directly from Germany to Australia but we believe the origins are in Poland." Keelty said 1.5 tonnes of ecstasy had been intercepted by Australian authorities this year."

 

[JTR contributor's note: "It may be necessary to add 'Jewed up' to go beside 'Jewed down' in the vocabulary of Jewish business practices." Our note: another side benefit of Jewish/Israeli immigration to America. Let's see, all these Israeli moving company predators, the Jewish "Russian mafia," etc.]
Movers go on trial for alleged extortion,
By Peter Lewis, Seattle Times, November 15, 2004
"Four people go on trial in federal court in Tacoma today on charges they extorted customers in a household-moving scam by luring them with low prices, then jacking up costs and holding their goods hostage until they paid. Now defunct, Woodinville-based Nationwide Moving Systems harmed more than 50 people, the government alleges. Actual and intended losses — including the amount the defendants tried to defraud customers out of — exceeded $1 million, prosecutors contend.
According to the government, the defendants would delay notifying customers of the inflated prices until after their goods were loaded. This had the effect of squeezing customers, the prosecutors say. Some customers, for example, faced penalties from airlines if they canceled previously scheduled travel arrangements; some were under pressure because they had to relocate for a new job. Others were stuck because their leases had expired or their homes had been sold and so they had nowhere to stay, the government alleges. Of seven people originally charged, three — Martin Kirk II, 25, and Michael Airgood and Kristen Klein, both 24 — have pleaded guilty and have agreed to testify against the remaining defendants. They are: Erik Deri, 33; Yosef Nahum, 55; and Yuval Derei, 30, all of whom are Israeli nationals facing deportation if convicted. Yuval Derei is Erik Deri's brother. The fourth defendant, American-born Tanya Deri, 29, is Deri's wife. According to charging papers, the investigation was sparked after a March 2003 Seattle Times article described customer experiences with Nationwide. Each of the defendants is charged with conspiracy to commit wire fraud and interfere with commerce by extortion, which carries up to five years' imprisonment and a $250,000 fine. In addition, they face multiple counts of fraud and attempted extortion, each of which carries up to 20 years and a $250,000 fine. Some of the defendants face additional charges ... The Seattle prosecution is similar to other recent federal extortion cases that implicated Israeli-run moving companies around the country, including California, New York and Florida. In virtually every instance, the defendants pleaded guilty or were convicted by jurors, officials said."

Court convicts top Rabin aide of fraud, breach of trust,
Haaretz (Israel), November 30, 2004
"Attorney General Menachem Mazuz and State Prosecutor Eran Shendar welcomed the Supreme Court's Monday conviction of Shimon Sheves, former director general of the Prime Minister's Office under Yitzhak Rabin, who was found guilty of fraud and breach of trust in what prosecutors called an important victory in the fight against corruption ... "The court recognized breach of trust as a central and important rule in the war against corruption and in the establishment of norms for behavior of public officials," state prosecutor Yehoshua Lamber told reporters. He said the precedent would be applied to a number of corruption investigations against public officials and provide a framework on what constitutes breach of trust by officials."

Ex-workers detail tactics of movers,
by Peter Lewis, Seattle Times, December 1, 2004
"A former moving-company foreman told jurors yesterday that he and his co-workers used to brag and laugh about how they had fleeced customers by overcharging for household moving jobs. "We were happy," recounted Michael Airgood, referring to how much extra money they brought in by cheating people. Airgood testified as part of a plea agreement with federal prosecutors. The potentially damaging testimony came at the start of week three in the government's case against now-defunct Nationwide Moving Systems of Woodinville and four people charged with extorting customers. They are accused of luring customers with low prices, then jacking up costs and holding their goods hostage until they paid. Airgood, 24, of Lynnwood said his superiors taught him to get the customer's signature on certain forms as soon as the moving crew showed up and before the forms were fully filled out. He also would tell them the move could not start unless they signed. Then, after their stuff was loaded and the truck was locked, he would present customers with a significantly higher price than the original estimate and point to the signed forms, which gave the movers permission to charge more than the original quote and to hold the goods until the price was paid, Airgood testified. The government has identified more than 50 customers who were harmed between the time Nationwide was formed in May 2002 and was shut down in July 2003. Actual and intended losses — including the amount the defendants tried to defraud customers out of — exceeded $1 million, prosecutors contend. "Unhappy customers" In opening statements, defense attorneys denied that the business was trying to defraud customers. They contended that moving-company customers themselves were to blame for the higher prices because they underestimated how much stuff they had. "All businesses have unhappy customers," said defense attorney Bob Leen, who represents Erik Deri, who ran the company. On trial along with Deri, 33, are Yosef Nahum, 55, and Yuval Derei, 30. All are Israeli nationals facing deportation if convicted. Yuval Derei is Erik Deri's brother but spells his name differently. The fourth defendant, American-born Tanya Deri, 29, is Deri's wife. Airgood is one of three other people, including Kristen Klein and Martin Kirk II, who were also charged but reached deals with the government and agreed to testify against their former associates. Yesterday, Airgood said Deri, Nahum and Derei taught him how to drive up prices. Those techniques included underpacking boxes, leaving gaps inside trucks when furniture and boxes were loaded and lying to customers about the size of the trucks into which their stuff was loaded, Airgood testified. Airgood, who worked for Nationwide as a packer and later as a foreman, has pleaded guilty to six counts of extortion. His sentencing won't occur until the trial is over. His common-law wife, Klein, also 24, has pleaded guilty to wire fraud. She testified that she worked as a secretary and that her superiors taught her how to lure customers with phony estimates. For example, if a customer said they had a sofa, she would indicate they had a love seat when she entered an inventory of their items into a computer program. By indicating a smaller piece of furniture, the program would give a lower estimate. Then when the movers showed up to load the goods, the belongings would take up more room. The point was to "reel in" customers by offering unbeatable prices, Klein testified."

[How non-Jewish migrant workers are treated in Israel:]
For You Were Strangers. Modern Slavery and Traffiicking in Human Beings in Israel.
Written by: Sigal Rozen, Ella Keren, Nomi Levenkron, Shevy Korzen, and Ronen Steinberg, Hotline for Migrant Workers (Israel), February 2003 [pdf file - 66 page report]
"Ever since the Israeli government introduced non-Palestinian migrant workers to the local labor market more than a decade ago, there has been a continuous deterioration in their wages and working conditions. In recent years, there has been a sharp increase in instances of enslavement and trafficking in human beings. Its primary manifestations include debt bondage, restrictions and violations of basic human freedoms, and renting and selling of workers. The accomplices and beneficiaries of the trade in human beings include employers, employment agencies and smugglers. The vocabulary which has evolved in Hebrew, such asquotas, importing and supplying workers, disposal of workers, “portable” workers, and runaway workers truly reflects how human beings have been reduced to mere chattels. Although the authorities are aware of this deterioration, they have failed to take adequate measures to prevent it. Furthermore, the continuous erosion of migrant workers’ rights is a direct consequence of the government’s own policies, in particular binding workers to their employers, failing to enforce laws applicable to employers which could have protected workers’ basic rights, and deporting “illegal” migrant workers. Each of these policies, and especially the combination of the three, has created fertile ground for the development of conditions of slavery and trafficking in human beings in Israel ... Another practice, common especially among Romanian workers, is to require the worker to mortgage his house as a guarantee, used as a kind of “insurance” to prevent him from leaving his Israeli employer. These handsome fees are shared between recruiters abroad and Israeli employers and employment agencies, thus making profits from just recruiting the workers ... Due to the hefty fees migrant workers are required to pay for the work in Israel, many employers and middlemen have discovered that the business of recruiting the workers is highly profitable irrespective of the additional profits made from their labor. The culmination of this phenomenon is evident in the recruitment of workers for whom there is no need, in other words: importing the unemployed. On December 2001 the daily Yediot Aharonot published a shocking series of articles which found that “employment agencies have realized that it is far more profitable to recruit a Chinese worker and collect the fees he pays for the work than to actually employ him ... Confronted with the harsh realities in Israel, migrant workers realize that they have been
deceived. Most workers’ wages remain well below the legal minimum, and they can only dream of the salaries promised to them in the contracts they signed in their countries of origin ... The employer’s control over his migrant workers extends far beyond the sphere of work, and includes intrusion into and complete control over their personal lives. The employer determines where they will live, under what conditions, what to eat, whether or not they can have a mobile phone, etc. Additional restrictions limit workers’ access to legal advice andmedical care. In August 2002, three Chinese workers employed by the Malibu constructioncompany through the Gal Meshi employment agency gave a volunteer of the Hotline forMigrant Workers a detailed description of their conditions. All the workers were living at anisolated caravan site in Rishon Lezion that was run like a prison. They were forbidden toleave the site during the week, even after the end of the workday. Inspections and “roll calls” (just like in prisons) were conducted three times a day in order to make sure no one escaped. Mobile phones were forbidden. Anyone caught with a mobile phone in his possession wasimmediately deported to China. Workers’ passports were taken away and held by thecompany Under these circumstances, the migrant worker’s subjugation to his employer is total since the worker’s legal status within Israel is completely dependent upon his employer’s will. At the basis of the “binding policy” is the perception of the migrant as a mere working tool. A migrant worker is not perceived as an independent entity possessing rights, needs and desires. He has no right to choose his workplace, and the authorities permit him to switch employers only if he has first received a “letter of release”from his former employer. From the moment an employer no longer requires his services for any reason whatsoever, all he must do is call the police and declare that he is no longer interested in employing the worker. The worker is then likely to be deported. The “binding policy” is the most extreme and flagrant use of the exercise of proprietary authority and complies with international definitions of slavery: “Slavery is the status or condition of a person over whom any or all of the powers attaching to the right of ownership are exercised.” ... In order to replace one authorized permitted worker with another, the employer must either “transfer” the worker to another employer who possesses an unfilled permit, or send the worker out of the country. The “binding policy” encourages employers to place harsh restrictions on workers’ freedom, to deport them by force, and in extreme cases even to employ man-hunters to hunt down “runaways.” An article published in the Yediot Aharonot daily newspaper on July 2, 1999 detailed these practices: “The methods of the manhunters are as follows: abduction, incarceration, interrogation, beatings, humiliation, and starvation. In some cases the treatment ends in workers being taken, under threats, to the airport and in their deportation … in full view of policemen and security men. Fear guarantees the success of this ‘black deportation’.”... [M]any of the practices used by employers of migrant workers and by employment agencies create in effect a state of slavery and trafficking in human beings in Israel. In its continual failure to fight this phenomenon, the state of Israel enables employers and employment agencies to engage in illegal practices whose sole objective is to enlarge their profits as much as possible. By agreeing to sustain legal mechanisms and institutional arrangements which exempt criminals from punishment and deny protection to their victims, Israel contributes, directly and indirectly, to the unfettered development of this phenomenon, and in doing so it also systematically violates its international obligations."