Shas Party secretary Rabbi Rafael Pinchasi becomes the latest party member convicted of a crime in an Israeli courtroom. Pinchasi, a former party MK today serves as the secretary of the Shas Moetzas Chachmei Hatorah.
Pinchasi was found guilty of building violations by a Bnei Brak local court. Justice Yaakov Shaked rejected a request from Pinchasi to fine him and even punish him but not to convict him, realizing a conviction will block the road to a senior civil service appointment. The court did convict Pinchasi despite the plea bargain agreement in which he admitted to lawbreaking activity.
The court cited that “While a conviction of a crime stains the name of a person, even a misdemeanor, the blood of the defendant before me is not redder that the blood of other defendants convicted under the Planning & Building Laws.”
Regarding Pinchasi’s claim that his career would be compromised due to a conviction, the court stated “there is no evidence that the defendant will be substantially damaged as a result of a conviction and there is certainly no evidence to show a disproportionate damage in light of the seriousness of the crime committed.”
(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)
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2 Responses
This is a reason that the nation is not interested in SHAS being in the government, they are not trusted to be law abiding, and that is a tremendous negative for a Torah party.
In the 70’s when Menachem Begin won the elections and formed a government for the first time, he came to USA to fund raise. A man I worked with used to supply Begin with explosives; this man was a US soldier and had access to explosives.
He called Begin up to wish him mazel tov and Begin invited him to come to Israel to live. My friend said he could not live on the small salary that people make there. Begin replied, “so you will cheat like everyone else.”
So it is in EY in politics to this day.