Over the past year the State of Israel has been rocked by never-ending corruption scandals, involving the highest levels of the justice and law enforcement systems. Key figures in the most recent scandals were also key figures in perverting the Rabin assassination investigation for the benefit of the powers that be.

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Over the past year the State of Israel has been rocked by never-ending corruption scandals, involving the highest levels of the justice and law enforcement systems. However, the modus operandi has so far involved covering it all up through a series of bizarre show trials. The most likely reason: Key figures in the recent corruption scandals, Ruth David -- former Tel-Aviv District Attorney, and Efraim Bracha -- senior Israel Police commander, were also key figures in perverting the Rabin assassination investigation for the benefit of the powers that be. Regardless of the squabbles between Netanyahu and Obama, the US stands firm behind the powers, which took over control of the State of Israel following the assassination...

Two of the key figures in current corruption scandals: Commander of the Israel Police National Fraud Investigations Unit Efraim Bracha and former Tel-Aviv District Attorney Ruth David. Both also served in key positions in the Rabin assassination investigations. It Is believed that their role in perverting the investigation of the Shin-Bet's involvement in the assassination is the reason for their kid's glove treatment in the current explosive corruption scandal.

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The State of Israel has been rocked over the past year by what seems like a never-ending stream of corruption scandals. The essence of most cases is widespread bribing affairs involving senior government officials. However, the most recent affairs went further, with allegations including in the trading by senior law enforcement officers and judges in criminal investigations and criminal litigation cases with the suspects/defendants.

A series of bizarre show trials
The previous round of scandals involved several cases, related to former prime minister Ehud Olmert and his former secretary, and separately, cases related to "kabbalist" Josiah Pinto. In both scandals, the Israeli justice system handled the cases through bizarre show trials, which were supposed to appear to the public at large as fair public trials, but were none of it.

Double books for dockets: State of Israel v Zerni ( 10291-01-12 ) in the Tel-Aviv District Court -- bribing trial of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert in the Holyland corruption scandal. The court file is "open to the public" (i.e., not sealed). Top: The public access system on April 6, 2015 shows only 63 decisions, most of them unsigned, truncated, or otherwise invalid records. Bottom: The Court's access system on March 22, 2015 shows 253 decisions. Neither docket lists the conviction and sentencing records, which were widely reported by media, based on pronouncement of Judge David Rosen in open court. However, the 2012 Ombudsman of the Judiciary report notes that Israeli judges today do not hold the reading of decisions or judgments in open court as final. Judgments are also routinely missing from the judgment index, and Judge Rosen denied repeat requests to access the court file to inspect and to copy. The maintenance of double books for dockets, one of the fraudulent features of the new IT systems of the Israeli courts, is accepted by Israeli attorneys and judges as reasonable (the total number of records in each case appears in the lowest line of the figure).

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Of particular note regarding these trials, is the habit of the Israeli courts over the past half decade, following the implementation of new IT systems in the courts, of keeping double books for dockets. The cases are purportedly "public", i.e., not sealed. However, the courts keep one docket in their internal system, and a different one on the publicly accessible system. For example, in the bribing trial of former prime minister Ehud Olmert, at the time that the public docket held only 63 decisions, the internal docket of the court held over 250 decisions. In order to permit such double bookkeeping, the records are unnumbered. Notably, both dockets fail to include valid conviction or sentencing records of former prime minster Olmert, although the rendering of such decisions was widely reported by Israeli media -- based on oral pronouncements of the judge in open court. [ⁱ]

The general aim of such perversion of justice by the courts appears to be aimed at convicting specific individuals, while permitting others, who were deeply involved in the same corruption scandals, to walk free.

However, the current stage of the evolving corruption scandals went much further. It concerns two key figures in the justice system -- top Israel Police commander Efraim Bracha and former Tel-Aviv District Attorney Ruth David. Opposition leader Yitzhak Herzog, an attorney himself, and hardly one who is known for any controversial statements, was quoted saying that the current scandal is the "Day of Atonement" of the Israeli justice system.

Israel Police Commander Efraim Bracha

Israeli "News1" outlet compared Israel Police top commander Efraim Bracha to J Edgar Hoover -- given Bracha's perceived immunity and ability to extort the justice system and prevent his investigation.

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The case of Commander Efraim Bracha is unique: Bracha heads the National Fraud Unit of the Israel Police, a job that can be approximately compared to FBI Assistant Director for Criminal Investigations. Already in "kabbalist" Pinto case, there was plenty of evidence that Bracha accepted bribes for inside information regarding various investigations. In an unusual move, US Attorney General Loretta Lynch wrote a letter, supporting Rabbi Pinto's allegations that Pinto paid Bracha bribes. [ⁱ]

Haaretz daily leaked transcripts from the investigation of the case, where Bracha was confronted with Pinto. [ⁱⁱ]

BRACHA: "If you gave me a Shekel, I am willing to put my head under the guillotine... commit suicide...

PINTO: "Go ahead and do that"

PINTO: (yelling loudly) "You are a liar, a liar. I swear on the bible that I gave you USD 60,000."

BRACHA: (yelling loudly) "A lie!"

PINTO: "A liar and a crook... I swear to god... I also took the polygraph test..."

BRACHA: "I am willing to do that too".

PINTO: "So go ahead and take the test..."

Apparently, the investigation ended with Bracha never taking the polygraph test... And the Tel-Aviv District Court ran a sham trial in the Pinto case, where Bracha was effectively cleared of any wrongdoing (although he had never been named a defendant) and permitted to keep his job. At the same time, his senior colleague, Commander Menashe Arbiv (equivalent of FBI Director) was forced to resign, following Pinto's evidence of bribing Arbiv.

In the context of the currently ongoing investigation of Ruth David and her partner -- celebrity attorney Ronel Fisher, a series of other cases were leaked to the press, where Bracha was claimed to trade in inside information from top secret police investigations against crime figures and elected officials. Regardless, it appeared that he held some kind of immunity, and he was never seriously investigated. The situation led one media outlet to compare Bracha with J Edgar Hoover, being able to extort somehow the justice system. [ⁱⁱⁱ]

In parallel, media have repeatedly published in recent week headlines, such as 'Dramatic development in the investigation -- under publication prohibition decree...' failing to provide the public any of the information. [^iv]

Former Tel-Aviv District Attorney Ruth David

Celebrity attorney Ronel Fisher and his law-firm partner, former Tel-Aviv District Attorney Ruth David -- key figures in the scandal, involving allegations of selling police investigation and court cases for bribes.

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Ruth David's arrest on May 5, 2015 created a tremendous shock wave in the Israeli justice system. David served in the justice system for 33 years, ending in 2010. Her last position, as Tel-Aviv District Attorney, was no doubt a key position in the justice system. She was charged with making decisions regarding the prosecution of major crime figures, white-collar criminals and politicians. As such, she single-handed determined the fates and careers of notable political figures, among them -- former prime minister Ehud Barak, former prime minister Ariel Sharon's son, and various government ministers.

Already during her years as District Attorney, claims were made regarding illicit relationship and influence peddling between her and celebrity attorney Ronel Fisher. Following her retirement from public service, she joined his office as a partner. Additionally, she joined as member of the Board of Directors the construction company of a suspect major crime figure.

Her arrest and investigation in the current affair immediately raised the question of her conduct as District Attorney. However, Chief State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan in a public statement tried to claim that there is no evidence at all of corrupt conduct prior to her move to the private sector. Such claim, and the refusal to investigate her conduct as District Attorney are widely seen as self-serving, and intended to avoid an even greater loss of faith in the Israeli justice system.

It should be noted that although the evidence is clear that David was involved in efforts to undermine the investigation, she was arrested for only a few days.

Combined, the cases of Ruth David and Efraim Bracha raise the obvious question: Is the Israeli justice system able to address its own corruption?

The Rabin assassination connection

Although current prime minister Netanyahu was not the head of the opposition at the time, his conduct in the months leading to the Rabin assassination was described by media even prior to the assassination as incitement for murder. Here, he is shown leading extreme right demonstrations carrying a coffin and a noose. Rabin's name is written on the coffin.

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Israeli media routinely state that Bracha was the head of the Israel Police Special Investigation Team for the Rabin Assassination. However, the actual Appointment Record of the Israel Police Special Investigation Team, copied below, fails to list Bracha's name at all...

November 27, 1995 Appointment Record of the Israel Police "Special Investigation Team" for the Rabin assassination. "3. Goals of the Investigation: a. Determine whether the murderer acted alone and/or acted with help from others. b. Investigate who stood behind the perpetrator of the murder." Commander Efraim Bracha, who is mentioned in Israeli media as the head of the team, fails to be mentioned in this record. The person who is listed in the record as the head of the team, Commander Shimon Sharvit, was also later investigated in a corruption affair, but was cleared.

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Ruth David served as the Attorney General's representative on the Shamgar State Investigation Committee of the Rabin assassination.

Combined, the two no doubt hold key sensitive information regarding the assassination and its investigation. The Shin-Bet's conduct relative to the assassination is at least inexplicable. In his book, covering the affair (which can be viewed as his defense statement) Karmi Gilon, then Shin-Bet head, also notes the inexplicable Shin-Bet conduct in this case. For example: The presence of the assassin near the prime minister's limo, when according to standard procedures the area is to be kept "sterile". It permitted the assassin to shoot Rabin at point blank. Likewise - the failure of the bodyguards to respond according to standard procedures. All bodyguards are trained to shoot to kill under such circumstances, and their response is routinely timed, the minimal passing response time being 1.8 seconds. Under such procedures, the assassin should not have been able to shoot Rabin even once, let alone three times, and surely he should never have emerged from the assassination alive and unharmed...

Volumes have been written about the assassination and the evidence, which leaves little doubt that the Shin-Bet was deeply involved in the assassination, and that intensive efforts were made to cover it up. Serious sources continue to claim that the assassin, now serving a life-sentence without parole, may in fact have attempted to assassinate Rabin, but was not the one who finished the job. [ⁱ]

Regardless, the Israeli courts and the investigation committee cleared the Shin-Bet from any involvement in the murder.

The Rabin assassination is typically associated with derailing the Oslo Accords and with it - the Israeli-Palestinian peace process and Palestinian statehood. However, review of the remarkable changes in Israel in the years since then, reveals that its impact was no lesser in the socio-economic arena. On the one hand, the years following the Rabin assassination were characterized by the implementation of neo-liberal economic policies, dismantling of the welfare-state, extreme concentration of capital by a handful of "tycoons", propelling Israel to No 1 in poverty rate among developed (OECD) nations, and tremendous increase in the cost of living (particularly the cost of housing), which combined - led to the emergence of the Israeli social protest movement. On the other hand, the years following the Rabin assassination were also marked by unprecedented corruption of all government agencies in Israel, the justice system in particular. [ⁱⁱ] Both OECD and the UN have run in recent months investigations relative to corruption of government in Israel and Israel's compliance with various international treaties for combating corruption.

Where does the US stand?

The US is well aware of the massive corruption of the Israeli government over the past couple of decades. To wit -- Wikileaks published the US Ambassador to Israel 2009 cable to the State Department, titled: "Israel -- the promised land for organized crime?" [ⁱⁱⁱ] The report outlines the merger of organized crime and state agencies in Israel.

Regardless of the widely advertised squabbles between Netanyahu and Obama, the US stands firm behind Netanyahu and the current Israeli regime:

Military cooperation between the US and Israel, particularly in the intelligence front, has been repeatedly described as tighter than ever before. Moreover, under Netanyahu's tenure, the US was permitted to construct in Israel massive underground command and control centers, effectively making Israel equivalent to Germany, South Korea, or Japan. Such decisions were made without any public debate or vote by Knesset (parliament), and was first discovered in Israel through US media reports. [^iv]

When it comes to money matters, US-Israel relations have reached an unusual junction as well. This week, Israeli media reported that the US embassy repeatedly contacted Arab members of Knesset (parliament), urging them to support Netanyahu (not the Arab parliamentarians' typical favorite) in his uphill battle for approval of his new proposal for the Israeli gas monopoly. [^v] The new proposal would provide a long-term license for the gas monopoly, where US-based Noble Energy holds a key interest. According to Haaretz daily, the US embassy response regarding such news: "We are proud of the contributions that American companies are making to bring cleaner and more efficient energy resources to Israel..." The monopoly is seen by many economists as a long-term disaster for the Israeli economy and for Israeli consumers. Israel's top Anti-Trust Regulator Prof David Gilo announced a couple of months ago his intention to break down the monopoly. However, within 24 hours Netanyahu announced that the gas monopoly would remain intact, leading the Regulator's resignation. [^vi] Israeli media reported that Netanyahu's unusual move came following a phone call from the US.

As Treasury Minister, Netanyahu was also behind the unusual 2005 recruitment of Stanley Fischer, then a US citizen, to head the Bank of Israel. Following Fischer's departure (no No 2 in the Fed), Netanyahu again sought, unsuccessfully, to recruit a US trained, IMF and World Bank vetted economist for the job. Following her appointment, new Israel Bank Governor Karnit Flug has repeatedly issued reports, which documented that under Stanley Fischer a real-estate bubble has been created, which risks the stability of the Israeli financial system. Stanley Fischer also oversaw massive purchases of US dollars as Israel's almost exclusive reserve currency (when most other central banks appear to seek diversification, including gold holdings), generating in the process a large deficit in the Israel Bank. Most significant, Fischer unlawfully placed Israeli banks as subservient to the corrupt US banking regulation and US global spying apparatus. [^vii]

In short, over the past couple of decades, Israel has experienced a regime change, which undermined the fundamentals of civil society. The exposure of massive government corruption only ends so far in additional corrupt conduct by the justice system to cover it up. Regardless of the ongoing public squabbles between the US and Israel, the new regime is fully conducive for US interests.

LINKS

(Article changed on July 2, 2015 at 11:50)

Authors Website: https://www.scribd.com/Human_Rights_Alert

Authors Bio:

Dr Zernik's core research pertains to e-government and its significance for Human Rights and Civil Society.

His work won appreciation in Israel and abroad:
* Prof Uzzi Ornan - "All power to you! I hope that you see your tremendous efforts reach fruition!"
* Attorney Avigdor Feldman - "In my opinion you are doing very important work" thank you for your thorough and persistent work".
* Prof Amnon Shashua, Mobileye Co-founder - "" very important work".
* International experts, as part of anonymous peer-review - "" challenges current concepts in the field".
Four submissions, which he authored on behalf of Human Rights Alert - NGO, were incorporated into UN Human Rights Council Periodic Reports regarding the US or Israel (2010, 2013, 2015, 2018). His research has been presented and published in international academic conferences, including Data Mining (2010), Criminology (2012), E-government (2015, 2017), and were also cited in a textbook on "Machine Learning".
Online updated version: http://www.scribd.com/doc/46421113/