Three Tel Aviv judges will stand trial before a disciplinary court for charges of corruption and breach of trust, Attorney General Yosef Harish announced Tuesday night.
The judges are Ben-Shahar Harafai and Asher Arbel of the Tel Aviv district traffic court and Aharon Cohen of the magistrates court. Their names were made public at the insistence of other judges who feared all judges would be under a cloud if the trio was not identified.
The three have taken indefinite leave after consultation with top aides and senior police officers.
Details of the cases against the judges were given Tuesday night to Justice Minister Avraham Sharir and Justice Meir Shamgar, president of the Supreme Court. The specific charges were not disclosed, but the judges apparently are not accused of taking bribes or other monetary considerations.
It was disclosed at the same time that a veteran Tel Aviv traffic court clerk, Avraham Peli, was arrested six weeks ago on charges of accepting bribes, forgery and breach of trust.
Peli, who is in custody, is a waiting trial on eight counts, Israel Radio reported Wednesday. He is accused of accepting money and other favors from defendants in exchange for giving their cases “special attention.”
According to the Israel Radio report, he arranged the court calendar to ensure that certain cases would be heard by judges known for lenient sentencing policies, helped defendants draft appeals and directly and indirectly approached judges on behalf of certain defendants.
Peli and a partner, identified as Yehuda Frankel, pocketed between $500 and $1,000 and sometimes “even more” for their services, Israel Radio said.
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