MK (Yahadut HaTorah) Rav Yisrael Eichler used the Knesset forum today to demand kvura of over 8,000 body parts that have become part of the collection of Prof. Yitzchak Hiss, the nation’s chief pathologist and the director of the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute. He spoke of kovod ha’meis and questioned how this alarming situation is permitted to continue.

Over recent years, Hiss has been the subject of a number of exposes revealing his bizarre collection of body parts, including internal organs, tissue samples, limbs and more. There are documented cases in which the forensic institute requested permission from family members of a niftar to take tissue samples or perform a post mortem for one reason or another and the request was denied. Nevertheless, there are specimen containers with parts from these bodies as well.

Despite all the negative PR against Hiss over the years, he remains in his post, with many theorizing that he simply knows too much about too many people to chance dismissing him against his will.

Ministry of Health officials have signaled they will call family members to come down and take the body parts, officially totally 8,288 specimens, for burial, and in cases where tissue samples are required, microscopic samples will be taken.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)