Herzog under attack for reduction of sentence for criminal

• Author: GREER FAY CASHMAN
• Published date: 30 September 2021
• Publication title: Jerusalem Post, The: Web Edition Articles (Israel)

President Chaim Herzog, who was Israel's sixth president, aroused considerable controversy in 1986 when he pardoned 11 senior Shin Bet officers who were involved in the Bus 300 affair, in which two captured Palestinian hijackers of a bus were executed without trial. The senior Herzog also pardoned most members of the Jewish underground who were convicted of attacking Palestinians with the intent of causing their demise.

President Isaac Herzog has done something far less controversial in reducing the two-year sentence of lawyer Gila Naftalin, who was convicted of stealing tens of thousands of dollars from the trust funds of her clients and of forging the will of a client who had owned extensive property.

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The president of the state grants pardons and reduces sentences on the recommendation of professionals from the Justice Ministry. This was indeed the case with regard to Naftalin, and there was no objection from the prosecution. But the controversy lies in the fact that Naftalin is the sister of Rabbi Shmuel Rabinowitz, the rabbi of the Western Wall, with whom Herzog has had long and close relations.

This has led to sharp criticism on social media platforms with charges of conflict of interest.

According to reports in traditional Hebrew media outlets, there was no conflict of interest, because Herzog was acting on the recommendation of the ministry, though Justice Minister Gideon Sa'ar recused himself from any involvement, because Rabinowitz had officiated at his wedding.

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