The conviction of Aharon Abu-Hatzeira on charges of larceny, fraud and breach of trust, for which he received suspended sentences by a Tel Aviv district court last Friday, has triggered angry repercussions here. Interior Minister Yosef Burg responded sharply to attacks on his ministry by leaders of Tami, the three-man Knesset faction headed by Abu-Hatzeira.
President Yitzhak Navon strongly admonished some of Abu-Hatzeira’s supporters who contended that the conviction was a slur by the “Ashkenazic establishment” against Israel’s Sephardic community.
Abu-Hatzerira, who resigned as Minister of Labor, Welfare and Absorption after his conviction, was given suspended sentences of 30 months, 18 months and three months on the three country and fined 3500 Shekels (about $170). He is appealing his sentence and intends to hold on to his Knesset seat pending a ruling by the Supreme Court.
His former aide and co-defendant, Moshe Gabai, convicted on the same counts, received a 12-month suspended sentence and was fined 500 Shekels (about $25). Both men had faced penalties of up to seven years imprisonment.
Judge Victoria Ostrovsky-Cohen justified the suspended sentences on grounds that both defendants had already suffered from the publicity attending their case. Abu-Hatzeira’s supporters took this as a victory for the Moroccan-born minister and carried him from the courthouse on their shoulders.
Navon, who is himself of Sephardic origin, condemned the defamatory slogans scrawled on the courthouse building and on walls around Tel Aviv denouncing the judge and the “Ashkenazic establishment.” He said these manifestations “must abhor and shock every citizen of Israel.” Navon blamed the Tami leadership directly for the vandalism and declared, “Without regard for political party or ethnic origin, we must all decry this phenomenon.”
The charges on which Abu-Hatzerira was convicted stemmed from his administration of a State-supported charitable fund when he was Mayor of Ramle seven years ago. Abu-Hatzeira has been at odds with Burg’s National Religious Party since he defected from the NRP last year and formed Tami to participate in the 1981 Knesset elections.
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