It’s time to break another Israeli gag order. The Israeli police, as anyone reading this blog will know, is one of the most corrupt, dysfunctional, violent and racist among western nations (to which Israel enjoys being compared). Over the past year or so, police commanders have been accused and sacked for taking bribes, one commander under suspicion committed suicide, and numerous ones have been accused and sacked for sexual harassment. One of those fired commanders responded to the allegations against him by claiming that sexual relationships between superior officers and female subordinates were part of the police culture. He appears to be correct, at least based on the number of senior officers both accused of indiscretions and sacked because of them.
When such charges are made against officers, the police and accused have a built-in advantage. Since they enjoy an intimate relationship with the courts, they can secure gag orders preventing publication of the names of alleged perpetrators. That’s what happened in the case I report tonight. According to a well-placed source, the officer receiving special protection is Maj. Gen. Roni Rittman, head of Lahav Unit 443. This department of the national police investigates corruption and is often likened to the FBI. But it also contains an infamous mistarvim unit which infiltrates Palestinian protests, incites violence by throwing stones, then assaults and arrests Palestinians who join in. Another mistarvim unit associated with the Border Police even infiltrates Palestinian hospitals to assassinate (and in some cases arrest) wanted Palestinians.
In addition to the original female officer who filed a complaint against Rittman, two or three others have come forward to confirm the allegations. They testify that they saw him at a social event pursue the female officer, grab and embrace her and try to kiss her.
Rittman responded to the allegations by saying:
This is invented and nuts. I have no doubt that I will succeed in refuting all the charges against me.
He further claimed that the accusations were being made to sabotage his chance of being included in a new round of appointments and promotions expected by the new national chief, Roni Alsheikh.
These are the same police tasked with investigating accusations by female victims of sexual assault. Is it any wonder that the police are so hasty about dismissing such claims, as they did in the case of Israeli TV reporter, Yoav Even, and many others.
This is the same police department to which Roni Alsheikh, former deputy chief of the Shabak, was appointed as the new national chief. It appears that Alsheikh himself, a devout Orthodox settler with a “Messianic” bent, has his own personal troubles. His son went into a catering business with several shady characters who absconded with the proceeds of the business and left him holding $100,000 in debts. Now, the son’s lawyers claim that he is being blackmailed by unnamed figures due to his father’s new position.
Richard.
You neglected to mention that this sexual harassment allegation stems from an incident a full 5 years ago.
@Phlegm: And that matters how?
Richard.
Maybe timeliness doesn’t matter to you, but it does to the United States Federal and State legislatures, which have statutes of limitations, of about one year, in cases of alleged sexual harassment.
Not exactly Ms. Flemstein:
http://victimsofcrime.org/docs/DNA%20Resource%20Center/sol-for-sexual-assault-check-chart—final—copy.pdf?sfvrsn=2
Sexual harassment and sexual assault are two different things. How does grabbing, embracing and trying to kiss someone constitute a sexual assault?
Any physical contact with a sexual connotation that is objected to by a woman is ASSAULT. Harassment is a lower threshold that can involve acts of petty harrassment or verbal harrassment. If you are a woman I find it incredible you wouldn’t know the difference.
Richard.
Your article, supra, as well as the Ynetnews article, uses the term ‘sexual harassment’; so why do you insist on changing that designation to (the crime of) ‘sexual assault’?
And stop calling me a man. Any fool with two ears can hear that I’m a women.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vw0jniMcBUw
@ Mr. Ida: Resorting to Howard Stern to confirm your sexual identity is just plain weird. And I assume by calling yourself “a women” you’re not also informing us you have multiple personality disorder as well???!
@ Mrs. Phlegm: When one of the highest police commanders in Israel harrasses or worse a female subordinate, I don’t think it matters whether the crime happened yesterday or five years ago. Especially if there are corroborating witnesses. Unless, that is you’d prefer accused sex abusers to be promoted even higher in the corrupt national police hierarchy.
I don’t believe that attempting to kiss someone at at a social function five years ago is reason to end someone’s career. If it happened more than once to the victim, or if other victims come forth, than, yes, something should be done.
In the meantime, publishing pictures of the man’s wife and children in connection with this incident is very low indeed, Richard. You don’t see that, do you?
@ Mrs. Phlegm: Now I know that you aren’t a woman. No woman would say that their boss has a right to physically embrace them in public during a party and try to kiss them. Nor would they say that this was a minor annoyance or inconvenience as you seem to believe. The very thought of it would be disgusting to almost all women. So you are no woman. You are clearly a man because yours is the response of so many Israeli men here who defend accused Israeli rapists. They also are offended when I publish pictures of the accused and sometimes even say I’m inciting people & endangering them. I’ve seen it so many times in these threads that I can smell the testosterone a mile away. You’re a guy. And if so, it makes you a total fake.
I further notice you are publishing from multiple IP addresses, but ones that are closely related to each other numerically. That might indicate you are using computers in an official or corporate space. I wonder where that might be??? Or you may be using IP proxies to conceal your identity and location. Also not a good sign for authenticity.
I have no compunction when a senior Israeli police commander displays corrupt & criminal behavior to expose his hypocrisy. I feel sorry of course for his family. But the horrible irony of him with his happy family which he betrayed by his behavior–that is too important a matter for the entire country not to feature this picture. BTW, the picture is freely accessible on the internet. So again, it’s hypocritical of you to wax indignant for my displaying an image that anyone, anywhere could display at any time.
“Sexual assault is any type of sexual contact or behavior that occurs without the explicit consent of the recipient. Falling under the definition of sexual assault are sexual activities as forced sexual intercourse, forcible sodomy, child molestation, incest, fondling, and attempted rape.”
–http://www.justice.gov/ovw/sexual-assault
The ‘crime’ never occurred, because Sexual Harassment is not a crime, it is a civil wrong, a tort. Sexual Assault is a crime (see above).
@ Mrs. Phlegm: That’s not only bogus it’s offensive. As I said, eyewitnesses say he sexually assaulted this woman and I hope he is exposed for it. BTW, police would never investigate what you call a ‘non-crime’ nor would they put him on forced leave, nor would they sack him (as the article claims is likely) if what he did wasn’t criminal.
You are starting to annoy me a great deal. Consider that a warning.
Dear missus Granny Flegmstein,
Just quit pretending to be an old lady who just stumbled upon this site. Each and every time you post here I cannot help laughing!
That’s because I imagine you, wearing a dress, spectacles perched upon your nose, in your rocking chair, browsing the net to find info, so you can obessively comment on each and every thing Richard writes!
Give it up! Disappear, and come back with yet a new identity.
I look forward to what you will come up with next: An aged Holocaust survivor? A Palestinian who has seen the light, and sees the Jewish state as the best thing that happende since sliced bread? An Israeli ‘leftist’ who complains about Palestinian ‘intransigence’? Be creative!
+1 Elizabeth. I don’t believe Phlegmonstein is a woman of any age and find its defense of the sexual predator Rittman disgusting. No man or woman has the right to touch, grope, kiss another without the consent of the (un)fortunate other. Rittman did this in PUBLIC. What has he possibly done without an audience? No, he didn’t expose himself or grab specific body parts of the woman but it doesn’t matter as his advances were uninvited and unwanted. Only a man would argue at such length to minimize the public sins of Rittman. Sheesh.
About Police failings:
The Dutch based Rights Forum produced a webpage summarising the findings of the Israeli human rights organisation Yesh Din. I have translated it here.
“The Israeli human rights organization Yesh Din (There is Law “) has investigated the impunity of violence by Israeli civilians against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank for ten years
This violence is often ideologically motivated, said Yesh Din:
“Incidents in which Israeli civilians harm Palestinians and their property have been a common occurrence throughout the West Bank ever since the beginning of Israeli settlement in the area. These acts of violence and vandalism follow a distinct pattern. They are usually perpetrated on Palestinian owned farmland, or on the outskirts of Palestinian villages and are meant to terrorize Palestinians and create a real threat that deters them from tending to their lands. These acts are part of a calculated strategy that aims at dispossessing Palestinians of their land and reducing their presence in the area.”
Yesh Din’s research shows that the Israeli authorities fail grievously in the investigation and prosecution of crimes committed by Israeli settlers against Palestinians and their property. Complaints by Palestinians do not lead to prosecution of the perpetrators, because the police hardly investigate.
According to the latest report by Yesh Din of more than 1000 complaints by Palestinians in the period 2005 -2015 only 7% led to prosecution. In 92% of cases the Israeli authorities closed the file without prosecution and the perpetrators went unpunished. In 1 % of cases the evidence disappeared.
This makes fewer and fewer Palestinians file a case after being attacked by Israeli settlers.
DESTRUCTION OF TREES
Every year Israeli settlers destroy thousands of trees of Palestinian farmers. With impunity according to the study by Yesh Din. Of the 260 complaints about this matter submitted by Palestinians in the past decade, only six resulted in a police investigation. No settler was convicted. The message delivered by the Israeli authorities is this: settlers are above the law and can commit crimes against Palestinians with impunity.
Source: UN OCHA
The destruction of olive and fruit trees touches many Palestinian farmers hard. Tens of thousands of Palestinian families are dependent on the proceeds of the harvest. Fewer trees mean less income.
The report by Yesh-Din: http://www.yesh-din.org/userfiles/Datasheet_English_Oct%202015.pdf
“It’s time to break another Israeli gag order. ”
Not really. The gag order ended today and this story has already been reported by Ynetnews.
@ Mrs. Phlegm: Wrong again, granny. There was a gag order in place when my story was published. I published before the gag order was lifted. I knew it would be lifted Sunday, which is why I published before that. Stop trying to one-up me or this Gotcha bullshit. It’s annoying.
Isn’t “phlegm” another name for mucous? Every time this guy posts something, I feel like hocking up a loogie. 😀
Woman working alongside men, but let us for one moment and bearing in mind the accusations that Israels police are one of the most corrupt….I think any women working alongside fellow police officers in say Egypt or Lebanon would see unwanted groping and sexual assault part of their job description. What is going on in Iran at the moment? Anything corrupt or oppressive?