2 Haredi politicians who engaged in illegal activities are resigning from Knesset
In the first example, Shas chairman Aryeh Deri is resigning over corruption charges that may have occurred in the time he'd returned to Knesset in the past decade:
In the second example, UTJ member Yaakov Litzman is accepting a plea bargain and resigning from Knesset, after facing an indictment for his own offenses, which included trying to protect the child molestor Malka Leifer:
The veteran leader of the Shas Party, MK Arye Deri, submitted his resignation letter from the Knesset on Sunday to Knesset Speaker Mickey Levy, as part of a plea bargain agreement.He is? That's really not good. Considering he had caused harm to Israel before by supporting certain elements of the Oslo accords in the 1990s, that's why, in addition to his tax offenses he committed besides those, he's not suitable for working as a politician in any capacity.
The deal, filed last month, required Deri to resign from the Knesset, admit to minor tax offenses, pay a NIS 180,000 fine and avoid prison time. But he is permitted to remain the leader of Shas.
In the second example, UTJ member Yaakov Litzman is accepting a plea bargain and resigning from Knesset, after facing an indictment for his own offenses, which included trying to protect the child molestor Malka Leifer:
United Torah Judaism MK Ya’acov Litzman was indicted for breach of public trust on Thursday, after he cut a plea deal with Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit in which he will be convicted in the Malka Leifer case. Other charges against him will be dropped, and he will pay a few thousand NIS fine as a symbolic fee.If that case too was closed, that's not good either. But then, this is Mandelblit we're talking about here, and he's responsible, by contrast, for causing only so many contrived legal troubles for Benajamin Netanyahu over accusations that, in contrast to what the above 2 Knesset members did, are much harder to believe, and very petty by comparison. Mandelblit may be resigning soon, but the damage he caused for Netanyahu is bound to continue for quite a while. The resignation of the 2 Haredi Knesset members is welcome, and their offenses are serious. It's just a terrible shame a man as corrupt himself as Mandelblit is has to be overseeing any of this.
In parallel to the deal and the negotiations, Litzman, 73, announced last month that he would not run for the Knesset again due to his age, though there are Knesset members far older.
Multiple pro-women and anti-corruption groups attacked the plea deal as being too lenient. [...]
Litzman had been suspected of using his influence when he was health minister to prioritize the interests of private individuals over the needs of the general public. He served in that capacity from 2015 to 2017 and from 2019 to 2020.
He allegedly prolonged the delay in the extradition of accused pedophile Malka Leifer to Australia. The convicted legislator is suspected of pressuring the Jerusalem District psychiatrist at the time to falsely state that Leifer was mentally unfit to be extradited to stand trial. She was eventually deported last January to Melbourne, where she faces 74 separate charges of child sexual abuse.
In the second case, which appears will be closed as part of the plea deal, Litzman had been suspected of helping the food establishment Beit Israel remain in operation despite a Health Ministry order that it should be closed. The Justice Ministry declined repeated requests to explain why it closed the restaurant case.
Labels: Australia, haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, misogyny, Moonbattery, political corruption, sexual violence
