State Attorney Amit Aisman insisted on filing the case involving smuggling goods into the Gaza Strip under the charge of aiding the enemy in wartime—the gravest offense in Israeli law—despite the fierce objection of Southern District prosecutors, i24News reported.
The charge, which carries a maximum penalty of death or life imprisonment, was included in the indictments against 12 suspects, including Betzalel Zini, the Shin Bet chief’s brother.
The prosecutors, led by District Attorney Erez Padan, strongly objected to the move, arguing that the charge was not sufficiently supported by evidence from a legal standpoint, contradicts common sense, does not align with existing legal precedents, and fails to meet the required principle of proportionality.
Despite Padan’s professional pushback, Isman overruled his arguments and refused to withdraw the charge from the indictments.
Similar scathing criticism was voiced last week by Adv. Yuval Kaplinsky, former head of the State Prosecution International Division, who used unusually harsh language against Isman, calling his decision “a display of impaired judgment, professional negligence, intoxication with power, and loss of direction.”
He added, “There is clear evidence of a forced and contrived labeling of the charge, accompanied by a mistaken and misleading application of the doctrine of foreseeability, insensitivity amounting to a prosecutorial rampage, and zero strategic planning regarding the sentence that will ultimately be imposed.”
It should be noted that last month, indictments were filed in a similar case involving soldiers from the Bedouin reconnaissance battalion accused of smuggling cigarettes into Gaza—but they faced a less severe national security charge, carrying a maximum penalty of five years in prison.
Senior political commentator Amit Segal said at the time: “We live in a remarkable era of law enforcement in which it’s better to be a Bedouin than to be the Shin Bet chief’s brother.”
Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal wryly commented, “If Zini’s brother really knew about the smuggling of cigarettes into Gaza, it’s strange that Isman didn’t charge him with genocide as well.”
Likud MK Moshe Saada excoriated the State Attorney’s decision. “The failed and unfit Amit Isman continues to use his position for political purposes, systematically targeting members of the national camp,” he stated.
Saada added, “The bizarre directive to add the offense of aiding the enemy—punishable by death or life imprisonment—over cigarette smuggling is part of a deliberate witch hunt aimed at triggering a constitutional crisis or the resignation of the Shin Bet chief, who exposed the Military Advocate General affair and refuses to align with Isman and his deep-state colleagues.”
(YWN Israel Desk—Jerusalem)
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9 Responses
Arabs who kill Jews get released by the hundreds time and time again. A jew just for selling cigarettes to Arabs on Gaza gets death penalty. This is Sodom. Lock up yeshiva boys who are learning but Arabs throwing stones mostly get released within hours. We need a revolution against these pork eating Zionist. The Daati Leumi should wake up. Their rabbis should make thousands of their student soldiers walk off their army posts and demand no girls on the army,no gay Sodom parades,no pork stores. But they won’t because they are so brainwashed by this shmata Zionist flag that even after their people got kicked out of their homes in gush katif they still are under the influence of these anti religious Zionist. We all know in Germany the Jews were so loyal to the Germans that they gave their lives. They were all tricked into walking like sheep into gas chambers. Bnei brak Jews are smarter. They know their enemy. The enemy that wants to destroy the Jewish spiritual existence. They are the leftist secular and even many of the secular right are on the same team.
I’m sorry but we don’t have enough facts yet to make a determination on whether this is an overcharge. If they smuggled the tobacco to Hamas who then uses the sale to continue operations is that an overcharge.
Israel needs serious bee keeping services when it comes to deep state!
Those entrusted with the maintenance of legal principles in Israel all have an extreme left wing bias. The same way as they attack the Haredi community, they will take any step possible to effectively attack the Ashin Bet. Waiting for the baying to start suggesting that the head of the Ahin Bet should resign.
why bury the lead? the purpose of journalism is to inform, so why aren’t cigarettes even mentioned before the 7th paragraph? the headline itself should be: “state attorney insists on death penalty for jews smuggling cigarettes to gaza”.
Very grave offense טאקע but who has the authority to mete out a death sentence? Why not a death sentence to all those October 7th terrorists in Israeli prisons? They killed; these treasonous criminals did not.
Very grave offense טאקע but who has the authority to mete out a death sentence? Why not a death sentence to all those October 7th terrorists in Israeli prisons? They killed; these treasonous criminals did not.
They’re probably Chareidim.
What is sadly comical is that the Israeli government itself is the one propping up Hamas with this “peace initiative”. Meanwhile, they have issues with their citizens smuggling in cigarettes…The most serious treachery of the Israeli government was sending in ground troops to fight the terrorists instead of fighting from air, resulting in the death of over one thousand Israeli soldiers and soldiers coming home with missing limbs. After all of this, they give the territory away to foreign governments who will most certainly coddle the Fakestinianswho are all Hamas. The Israeli government, particularly the leftists and Netanyahu as well, are the most revolting people.
Philosopher,you are correct.
The Israeli army leftist elite dont care about their own soldiers. They sent them into buildings full of terrorists to fight room to room so as not to kill Gaza civilians. Fathers of as many as seven children never came back home and as many as forty per cent were religious soldiers. They don’t care about killing off religious soldiers. Why are there no religious army elites. Because just like the leftist control the Supreme Court so too they control the army elite. They could have finished off Gaza in a month had they not given any food or fuel to the gazan gangsters. The gazan civilians would have attacked and looted Hamas and there would be no dead 915 soldiers and ten thousand crippled. Ben Gevir for prime minister.