Grapevine May 31, 2024: Corruption in high places

No one should be shocked by revelations of corruption in high places in Israel. It’s been going on for decades. For some reason at least half of the public figures convicted of quite serious crimes such as fraud, theft, bribery, perjury, falsification of documents, and breach of trust have been sentenced to community service plus a fine, while others have received suspended sentences.

It doesn’t really make sense because some of the people sentenced to prison terms, committed crimes in the same categories as those committed by people sentenced to community service, and sometimes even to a lesser extent. Perhaps they had a tougher judge, or they were lacking in the right connections.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev, former head of the Israel Bar Association Efi Nave, and Judge Eitan Orenstein who are currently in the corruption spotlight are simply links in the chain of Israel’s corruption caravan which includes a president of the state, a prime minister, a Shas leader, numerous government ministers and Members of Knesset, mayors, a chief rabbi, and more.

Most adult Israelis are aware that former president Moshe Katsav, former prime minister Ehud Olmert, Shas leader Aryeh Deri, and former chief rabbi Yona Metzger have done jail time, but they’re less likely to remember the late Avraham Hirschson, who was a minister of finance, did prison time as well.

Then, there were a whole bunch of other ministers who spent time behind bars – Aharon Abuhatzira, Shlomo Benizri, Rafael Pinhasi, and Gonen Segev. Among the MKs who were placed behind bars were Meir Kahane, Naomi Blumenthal, Omri Sharon, and Fania Kirschenbaum.

Of course, there were also a number of mayors and other public figures. The most notorious case was that of Asher Yadlin, who in the 1970s was the key fundraiser for the Labor Party, the head of Clalit Health Services, and Hevrat Ovdim. a workers’ union branch of the Federation of Labor (Histadrut).

A man with a brilliant monetary mind, Yadlin was two days away from taking up office as Governor of the Bank of Israel when he was charged with bribery and other offenses and was immediately taken into custody, where he remained for three months while awaiting trial.

His trial was processed much faster than that of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which is still being dragged out, and after less than three years, Yadlin was released and emigrated to the United States.

Morris Khan's philantropy

■ BILLIONAIRE ENTREPRENEUR and philanthropist Morris Kahn, 94, whose ventures range from marine research to sending a rocket to the moon, with a huge variety of scientific, technological, and environmental projects that illustrate the diversity of his interests, has been the recipient of many prizes and awards.

Among his most recent is an honorary doctorate from the University of Haifa to which he has been a most generous benefactor. Very often, Kahn’s philanthropy has evolved into entrepreneurship.

He likes to work with start-ups so that he has an understanding right from the beginning of what they are doing and what they hope to achieve. Once he gets involved, his insatiable curiosity, coupled with his broad vision prompts him to take a hands-on interest in the project that he has helped fund.

Beta Israel community to memorialize those who died on the way to Jerusalem 

■ ALTHOUGH SOME 4,000 Ethiopian Jews from the Beta Israel community died or were murdered in their efforts to reach Israel, many more Ethiopian Jews, despite the hardships and obstacles that they endured, succeeded in reaching the promised land.

Among the most historic aspects of their arrival in the country was the wartime mass airlift known as Operation Moses, which began in November 1984 and continued till January 1985.

Although it’s still a little early, some leading members of Israel’s Ethiopian community will host an evening at Confederation House Jerusalem on Wednesday, June 6, in which they will memorialize those who died along the way to Jerusalem and will celebrate the 40th anniversary of Operation Moses.

They will also protest the fact that so many other Ethiopian Jews are still waiting in Addis Ababa for Israel to bring them home. Many Ethiopian Israelis who have distinguished themselves in the army, academia, politics, law, medicine, sport, and other fields still have close relatives in Ethiopia, and cannot understand why the Israel Population Authority and the Interior Ministry persist in denying them the opportunity to be reunited with their families in Israel.

This policy has broken up families for no logical reason. The keynote speaker at Wednesday’s event will be Danny Adeno Abebe, the journalist and prize-winning author of From Africa to Zion, who is among the more widely known and more influential members of Israel’s Ethiopian community.

He will host popular Ethiopian-Israeli entertainers, ensuring that the evening will have a fine balance of smiles and tears.

30th anniversary of AMIA bombing

■ ANOTHER IMPORTANT anniversary will be marked next month in mid-July when members of Israel’s Argentine community will mark the 30th anniversary of the bombing of the AMIA Jewish community center in Buenos Aires.

Although it was long known that Iran was behind the bombing in which 85 people lost their lives, and many more injured, there were so many cover-ups, and inconclusive court cases, that it seemed there would never be closure. But in April this year, Argentina’s Court of Cassation, which is the country’s highest criminal court, ruled that Iran and its Lebanese proxy Hezbollah bear responsibility.

Argentine immigrants now living in Israel were particularly gratified by the court’s decision, as some people lost relatives in the massive explosion. In addition, some of the Argentine expats had been trying for years to have Israel recognize Jewish victims of terrorism who lived in the Diaspora.

A service for these victims was held on Mount Herzl this week. Coincidentally, on the same day, the government gave its official approval to Resolution 492 for the commemoration of Diaspora Jews who lost their lives in antisemitic attacks.

An additional coincidence was that Israel’s major organization OneFamily that helps survivors of terrorist attacks and the families of people killed in terrorist attacks, held an event at the Knesset in recognition of the widows and orphans of the Swords of Iron War against Hamas. Tragically, there has been a considerable increase in the number of widows and orphans since the outbreak of the war.

There are now more than 300 additional widows and more than 500 orphans. In addition to serious discussion on important issues, the event also included entertainment by comedian Guy Hochman and a musical performance by Eliav Zohar. Speakers included Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, MK Limor Son Har Melech, herself the survivor of a terrorist attack that left her widowed at age 24; and OneFamily CEO Chantal Belzberg.

Back in August, 2001, in response to the bombing of the Sbarro Pizza Parlor in which 15 people were murdered and 130 wounded, 12-year-old Michal Belzberg decided to cancel her Bat Mitzvah party and to contribute its costs to surviving victims and their families.

Her parents supported her in this, little realizing at the time that this would become their life’s work. OneFamily was founded on the basis of Michal’s selfless decision. Michal’s mother Chantal, became totally immersed in OneFamily, and spends nearly all her waking hours engaged in OneFamily outreach, plans, and events, and ensures that OneFamily lives up to its name.

Awarding Honorary Doctorates

■ AS MENTIONED previously in Grapevine, May-June is the season for the meetings of the Boards of Governors of Israel’s Institutes of Higher Learning, during which time, people who have contributed in different fields to the improvement in the quality of life, are awarded Honorary Doctorates with citations attesting to their worthiness and what they have contributed towards making the world a better place.

What is particularly interesting this year is that there are several honorees from Israel’s entertainment industry. Ben-Gurion University of the Negev set the ball rolling by honoring singer and songwriter Yehudit Ravitz.

Then on Thursday of this week, singer Shlomo Artzi was recognized by Tel Aviv University (TAU) for his outstanding contribution to Israeli culture and was acknowledged as being a major component in Israel’s national soundtrack. People who meet him can now say “Dr. Artzi, I presume.”

On Monday of next week, it will be the turn of Aviv Geffen, at Bar-Ilan University (BIU). At all three universities, most of the other honorees are academics and/or philanthropists, so it’s nice to have honorary doctorates conferred on people with whom the general public can more easily identify.

Someone else with whom the public can identify is television journalist and anchorwoman Ilana Dayan, whose investigative program Fact (Uvda) on Channel 12, has delved into some of the murkiest stories of the nation.

Dayan also studied Law at Tel Aviv University, then went to Yale in the US, where she earned a doctorate in the history of law. On her return to Israel, she taught classes in constitutional law at TAU. However, it is BIU and not TAU that will award her an honorary doctorate.

Coincidentally, Dayan and Geffen are distantly related and both were related to former MK Yael Dayan who passed away earlier this month.

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