Knesset Unit Recommends Stripping Abu-hatzeira of His Immunity

— The Knesset’s House Committee recommended today that Religious Affairs Minister Aharon Abu-Hatzeira be stripped of his parliamentary immunity so that he may stand trial on charges of bribe-taking. The recommendation, which must be approved by the full Knesset, was taken on a vote of 14-4 with three abstentions.

The committee acted despite an impassioned speech by Abu-Hatzeira in which he claimed he could not receive a fair trial in an election year and charged that he was the victim of a political vendetta stemming in part from the fact that he is an Oriental Jew. Abu-Hatzeira, 42, was born in Morocco.

It was the Minister’s second appearance before the House Committee since it began its deliberations last month. Abu-Hatzeira was indicted in November, based on information in a police dossier submitted to Attorney General Yitzhak Zamir. He accused the police of collusion with certain political figures to ruin his career and his reputation. He said he could not name the alleged conspirators now but would later “in a bomb shell.”

He also accused an unidentified police official, “Mr. X,” of slandering him and all Sephardic Jews in the course of convincing former Mayor Yisrael Gottlieb of B’nai Brak to testify against him. Gottlieb is said to be the prosecution’s chief witness. According to Abu-Hatzeira “Mr. X” referred to him as a “frenk parech,” a derogatory term for Jews of Oriental origin.

He criticized Zamir for indicting him without taking account of the political aspects of the case and asked that his trial be postponed until after the elections. Labor Alignment MK Moshe Shahal asked the Attorney General if that were possible. Zamir would say only that it was a very complicated issue.