To say that Israel's Witness Protection Program is wary of revealing anything about how it works would be a serious understatement. While the public has been able to get a glimpse into the operations of several other highly classified units, such as the National Cyber Directorate, the National Counterterrorism Unit, and the Israel Police undercover units operating in Judea and Samaria, the Witness Protection Program has been reluctant to do the same. In fact, it agreed to it only because it's about to launch its first public recruitment campaign.

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The Israel Witness Protection Authority was founded in 2008, as a division of the Public Security Ministry, with the aim of providing protection to threatened witnesses and their families so as to enable them to testify freely against felons involved in organized crime.

The WPA's role was outlined by a team formed in 2002, comprising members of the State Attorney's Office, Israel Police, and the Justice, Public Security, and Finance ministries, and its authorities were anchored in the Witness Protection Law, enacted in 2008.

The Witness Protection Program is uniquely tailored for each individual or family according to their different needs, in order to provide them with the greatest possible chance of a normal life. But not every state witness is eligible to be included in the program: the WPA is responsible only for the witnesses at the highest level of risk, while the police protect witnesses who are found to be facing lower-level risks.

Witnesses who are admitted into the program are provided with professional training, including being taught a new language when necessary, given emotional support by welfare professionals when necessary, and provided with medical care, including whatever is required to change their appearance. Eventually, after providing testimony, witnesses and their families are relocated, either in Israel or abroad, and if so, under the auspices of a witness protection unit overseas.

WPA Director Commander (ret.) Avi Neuman says that the program has come a long way in the short time it has been operational, and its officers have evolved from basic bodyguards wielding basic tools to professional marshals with a sophisticated arsenal of methods with which they protect their charges.

Initially, witnesses were housed in holding cells in a facility in central Israel. Their case agents would visit them once a day and take them out for a walk for an hour, he recalled. Later on, witnesses were set up in safe houses, but security was still lax. Once they testified, they were given a lump sum of money, usually a few hundred thousand shekels, and shipped off overseas. When the money ran out, many came back to Israel, where they were tracked down by those against whom they testified. More than a few paid with their lives for crossing the line. 

"It was clear to me that this was no way to handle things, and that protecting witnesses was something on a different professional level," he said. 

Soon after the Witness Protection Law was enacted, the first WPA officers' training course was launched with cadets who had previously served in the Israel Security Agency and the Mossad intelligence agency. Among its graduates were "Omri" and "Michal." Michal was the first female officer to serve in the Witness Protection Authority and she currently heads its human resources department. 

Omri, a married father of three, grew up in Lod, a mixed city in central Israel where several crime families maintain a prominent presence. "I grew up poor and crime was all around us. As kids, we used to look up to the criminals who would ride through the neighborhood on horseback, but my parents did everything to make sure we didn't stray."

He enlisted in a combat unit in the IDF, which he followed up by joining the Shin Bet security agency. He served in security positions in Israel and abroad, and was part of the point team that established the first Israeli embassy in one of the former communist countries.  He heard about the inception of the Witness Protection Program from a friend and graduated from his training with honors.

Michal, a married mother of three, also joined the WPA after serving in the Shin Bet. 

"After six years in the Shin Bet, I was looking for a change," she said. "Even though I was already a mother, I didn't want a desk job. When I heard about the WPA, I was excited. It was a small elite unit made up of people who come from the best security organizations in the country."

Q: How were you treated as the only woman in the training program?

 "I never paid any attention to us. At no point did I see myself as different."

In 2010, the Witness Protection Program admitted its first charge – a man who testified against a worldwide drug smuggling rink that planned to smuggle over 100 kilograms (220 pounds) of cocaine into Israel. Neuman headed the task force that took down the ring, and the star witness ended up sending 15 felons to prison. 

Michal was the one who chose the safe house for the witness – an apartment in one of the prestigious residential towers in Tel Aviv. "I wanted a place that would meet security needs. There was an electric gate, CCTV cameras, and a guard at the entrance. The WPA wouldn't approve such a location today, both over budget concerns and because it is too conspicuous," she said. 

"I was assigned to protect the witness' wife. Witnesses are not in jail so we let them go places and shadow them closely. There was one time that we scurried her out of a mall in Tel Aviv after we recognized a suspicious character. She was shocked. One moment she's window shopping and the next she's in the car without anyone around being the wiser."

The Israeli Witness Protection Authority is nothing like its counterparts worldwide. It is not as massive an organization as the United States Federal Witness Protection Program, nor is it similar to the European model, where marshals are part of local police forces and not an independent organization.

What they all have in common, however, is that joining them is voluntary. Witnesses can be offered the option, but the final, life-changing decision is up to them. There are currently dozens of witnesses in the program. 

"We are the only country in the world that protects state witnesses for a long period of time before their relocation," Omri explained. "In the US, for example, trials are short. Here, they can last for five years, and all this time the witness has to be protected. Safe houses change, the children have to change schools – and this all takes place in a small country where everyone knows everyone else."

The majority of state witnesses are hardly as pure as the driven snow. Some are convicted murderers, others are drug dealers or are involved in racketeering. Their decision to cross the lines stems from various reasons, from wanting to avoid jail time to simply wanting out of a life of crime. 

The first stop for a witness who comes under the auspices of the WPA is the intelligence division, whose officers are skilled in working with intelligence sources and covert agents with the help of social workers and psychologists. 

"Every witness has a permanent team of handlers and they are his connection to the WPA," the division chief explained. "They make sure he has as normal a routine as possible given the threats he faces. A witness has to be able to feel good – he has to face defendants that want him dead. His testimony can take down a criminal organization. The pressure is massive.

"Psychologists and social workers provide him, his wife and children with emotional support. They are cut off from extended family, their familiar environment and their friends, and the handlers are the ones who have to deal with their crises with them."

The security division, which oversees the marshals, operations center, and field and technological training, is not as lenient when it comes to the witness' daily routine. 

"It would be best if witnesses lived in the bunker and only went out to testify in court, but that's not going to happen," Omri said. "If the witness is locked up for four years, he will go crazy. He shouldn't feel like he's in a labor camp in North Korea. It is important to maintain balance. Allow him to enjoy life alongside providing strict security, and that's complex."

Q: What do witnesses' lives look like?  

Omri: "They receive an apartment and wages that match the family unit. They don't have a car – any transportation is handled by the marshals. 

 not have a car, and the mobilization will be done by the security guards."

Q: To what extent can their children lead a normal life?

"Kids go to schools and classes, but they are not allowed to open social media accounts. Teens are less understanding of the security measures because they can only visit friends after we vet them. We have had to cancel meetings in the past because we found out the friend was the son of a criminal."

Q: It sounds like life in a gilded cage.

"You could call it that. But the witnesses want to come into the programm much more than before. They know that they will be protected and it's a chance at a new life."

The stringent security measures make it naturally harder for witnesses to meet with parents or siblings, and dating is made even more complex. Especially when the marshals have to shut down plans. 

Q: Do they take 'no' for an answer?

"Not well. It usually makes them angry."

Q: What makes them the most nervous"

"Testifying in court and facing people who were once their friends. For us too, this is a weak point. The dates of the hearings and their location are also known to the defendants, and they can try to harm witnesses there. That's why such testimonies are given in a special courtroom with a special passage, a bulletproof witness stand, and an escape route." 

Q: Are state witnesses usually under threat? 

"They will be threatened for the rest of their lives, and there are quite a few attempts to locate them," he said. "Criminal organizations today have audacity and technological capabilities. They offer relatives of witnesses money for information, use private investigators, impersonate friends or lawyers – even government workers.

"Senior criminals, who get long prison terms because of a state witness see it as a betrayal. The hope is that they will eventually be released from prison without soldiers and means so it won't be worth their while to spend millions in search for a witness."  

Q: Israel is a small country. How can you prevent witnesses from being recognized?  

"They change their appearance. A costume; a wig, make-up. If necessary, family members also dress up."

Elad, the WPA's chief security officer, said that even when a witness relocates overseas, the agency still employs technological measures to prevent his identification. 

"Every call with relatives in Israel is coordinated with us and is routed through the WPA's switchboard so the number that appears on the phone screen will be fictitious. In-person meetings are held in a neutral country, not the destination country, and at no point does the extended family know where the witness is."

Game changers in the fight against crime

Being a marshal in the Witness Protection Program is grueling. The operational center works around the clock and no detail around a safe house – from the location and building specs to the neighbors – is vetted and constantly monitored. All computers and mobile devices provided by the agency are routinely screened by the intelligence division, and every call, message, or email is monitored. Still, there are no cameras in the safe houses, to allow the witnesses privacy. 

Alon, the deputy head of the WPA's security division, is also a former Shin Bet agent, who happens to also be a martial arts champion ranked third in the world.

He made the move to the agency because he was looking to strike a balance between an operational position and family life. 

"This isn't a 9-5 job but there's a better balance. Whoever joins the WPA will find that it knows how to contain life beyond work. I had cancer twice and the thought of retiring never crossed my mind."

Q: What does it take to be a WPA marshal?  

 "You have to be alert and attuned to your surroundings at all times. I could be sitting in a restaurant with a cup of coffee not far from the witness, and I'll notice everyone who walks into the place, immediately sees if they are carrying any suspicious objects and simultaneously examines vehicles in the area."

Handling witnesses, he added, "takes maturity and patience. You're guarding someone who had status and money and who's used to giving orders. Now all that is gone and a 25-year-old is telling him what to do."   

Nir, head of security and operations in the Witness Protection Authority, says it is not uncommon for witnesses to turn against the marshals, something he says is mostly rooted in frustration of their circumstances. 

"Some of them find it difficult to leave the criminal world behind and break free from the norms that have been a part of their old lives. They can shout at you, 'Who are you to tell me what to do?' and the marshals can't get angry or be rude. They have to navigate the professional line between being firm and showing sympathy.

"These people are pariahs in their old world but we see them as people. If you help the state take down criminals, we'll do everything we can to shore you up." 

Omri believes that the work the Witness Protection Authority does "is just as important as thwarting a terrorist attack or the Iranian nuclear threat. What the average citizen feels every day in the rise in crime – the pipebombs, the feuds, racketeering, and illegal weapons on the street. When you see the list of names of people who are killed every day it's more tangible than a nuclear Iran.

"In this equation, the state witness is the tiebreaker. This concept used to have a very negative connotation but now it's a brand in fighting organized crime. State witnesses today know that they have a way out. There's someone there to protect them."

 Q: How complicated is it for you to protect someone who has taken a life?  

According to Alon, sometimes, "You give one offender a pass to catch many others. Sometimes the crimes they committed are not easy to handle, but now they are saving lives. You have to remember that the decision to make them state witnesses is not ours but one made by the police and State Attorney's Office. We have to keep them safe throughout the trial and get them to the destination country safely."

Q: Did any of them ever go rogue?

 "About a year ago I was with a state witness at a cafe in the south when the security detail spotted another crime family's soldiers outside. We decided to leave, but the witness refused. We had to call in his handler and the social worker because things were about to go haywire. He eventually came around. Sometimes it feels like a daycare, but witnesses really are on an emotional rollercoaster." 

Q: Have you ever come across a witness who was expelled from the program and recognized you? Were you nervous that he would blow your cover?

"Yes. About two years ago at a gas station. I wasn't really worried because state witnesses rarely want to expose themselves."

Not every case is a winner, however. One of the high-profile cases that still haunt Witness Protection Authority officials involves the murder of a former state witness and his ex-wife.

The case involved Tal Korkus, the former right-hand man of Negev crime Yaniv Zaguri, who turned state's witness in 2009 and led to Zaguri spending seven years in jail for various violent crimes. 

Korkus and his then-wife Devorah Hirsch were relocated overseas, but after a few years of struggling with their new life, they returned to Israel in 2014 and were effectively expelled from the Witness Protection Program. Despite the WPA and police warning, the two then returned to Beersheba – Zaguri's realm.  

On  March 7, 2016, Hirsch, who had divorced Korkus, was gunned down in front of her three young children in the heart of the city. Korkus vowed to avenge them and explicit threats to his life began popping up on social media almost immediately, including one where a masked man shot at his photo. This was followed by a counter-threat showing a masked man firing at a photo of Zaguri. The menacing exchange escalated quickly and in June 2017, Korkus was killed by a pipe bomb placed under his car. 

Zaguri was indicted for both murders in 2018. His trial is ongoing. 

While this gruesome turn of events took place three years after Korkus was expelled from the Witness Protection Program, it is still perceived as a failure on its part. 

"Tal Korkus is not the Witness Protection Authority's 'Bus 300 affair,'" Neuman asserts, referring to the notorious 1984 event in the Israel Security Agency's history. "This is a serious incident and we have to learn from it. Korkus was expelled from the WPA because he didn't meet the program's conditions. Unfortunately, instead of laying low, he not only went back [to Beersheba] but also provoked the organization he had incriminated. The WPA has evolved since then and I hope something like this never happens again."

'Women are a tiebreaker'

Many witnesses struggle with the move overseas as it involves playing by a new set of foreign rules. Still, Omri says most witnesses "understand that this an opportunity for them to start a new life, with a new name and sometimes, even a new look."  

Zohar, who is responsible for changing witnesses' appearance, has become an expert in cosmetic treatments. "It starts with hair color and styles and choosing colored contact lenses; removing any unique scars and tattoos, and even plastic surgery on the face and body," he explains. 

"Everything is on the table. Some choose to undergo procedures to fix things that bothered them anyway and others go for enhancements. The witness's wife can also make similar changes – anything that will help them reach their destination calm and confident."

Q: Are they allowed to visit Israel and meet with family members?

"At first, we make sure that any such meetings take place abroad, but if there's an emergency, they can fly to Israel – depending on the level of threat they face. About a year ago we had a witness who had been abroad for five years and asked to come back to say goodbye to his brother, who was terminally ill. He was here for 72 hours, never left the house, and knew that the longer he stayed, the harder it would be for him to say goodbye. Witnesses need to be able to disengage and adapt to the new reality. "

Q: What if a witness' children want to come back to join the IDF?  

"If there is ever such a request, we can arrange it. The child will come back under a new identity," Elad said.

In the WPA's 12 years of operation, only three women served as marshals, and with the exception of Michal, the human resources director, they left the organization after only a few years of service.

 "It's a matter of coordinating expectations," Michal said. "I understand that women's priorities are different and each one chooses to emphasize something different. I have a supportive husband. who understands that I'm very career-oriented. I didn't stop to think or outline a strategy. Once you know what you want and you come home with that confidence there's no reason for anything to unsettle you. Sure, you need help, but I believe life has a way of working things out."

 Q: Does it bother you that you miss out on time with your daughters because of work?

 "No. I devote time to the girls whenever I can. They grew up to be good girls, and they even say they want to be just like me. Basically, I don't allow any conversation about a woman's 'role at home' because I am whole with myself. A woman can be married, raise children, and also fulfill herself. One shouldn't come at the expense of the other."

Q: How do you plan to attract women to work for the WPA?

"Women are tiebreakers when it comes to undercover work," she explained. "They blend into their surroundings more easily because no criminal organization looks at the women around the witness. They pick up on things quickly, they are shrewd, and they easily spot abnormalities in the field. 

"The only obstacle is physical fitness, which is why the next class will exclude that factor for female marshals. We don't need to run a marathon, nor are we required to become SWAT officers." 

The advantage women have, she continued, "is not their physical strength, but the emotional intelligence and acute senses. They are also the ones who can help the witnesses' wives and understand the children better. Every woman who applies to the WPA will be tested, even if she doesn't spend all day in the gym. If she really wants to join ut, we'll find a way. "

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Director-General of the Public Security Ministry Tomar Lotan lauded the work of the Witness Protection Authority. 

"I am proud and full of admiration for the arduous, determined work by the Witness Protection Authority. It is our duty to protect, treat and rehabilitate threatened witnesses and their families, who are at the highest risk. 

"We will continue to work harder and focus our best efforts and capabilities on increasing the resilience of Israeli society and reducing organized crime in Israel. "

The post In plain sight: Inside Israel's Witness Protection Program appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In the early hours of the morning of Sept. 6, 2021, five days after his appointment as head of the Border Police Counterterrorism Unit, known by its Hebrew acronym "YAMAM", Brig. Gen H.'s phone rang. "The unit's intelligence officer was calling to notify me that six security prisoners had escaped from the Gilboa Prison, among them the terrorist Zakaria Zubeidi, the head of the military wing of Fatah in Jenin," says H, recalling the drama.

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"Our initial working assumption was that somebody had assisted them, that they were armed and would try to carry out a mass terror attack. We called up all units, set up a command center with the Shin Bet, and worked around the clock almost without sleep. We searched and scoured whole areas without any intelligence."

Four days later, on a Friday night, the police caught two of the terrorists in an open field near Nazareth A few hours later, in the early hours of Saturday morning a farmer from the Tabor region called the police and said he had seen another two of the escaped prisoners.

"I came with a team of combatants to the village of Umm al-Ghanam at the foot of Mount Tabor," continues H. "Together with IDF trackers we combed the area and managed to find Zubeidi's tracks thanks to the footprint of his Nike shoes. We reached an area of forest and thicket at the foot of the mountain. Naturally, there it was a lot more difficult to find tracks than in open fields so we spread out and walked up the hill. It was two o'clock in the morning and there was complete darkness.

After almost an hour we stopped for a briefing at a parking lot for trucks on the slope of the hill. Some of the soldiers stopped to drink some water while others searched the area with torches. Suddenly one of the soldiers signaled that he could see something and he pointed his torch at a toolbox on the underside of a truck. We saw a pair of legs sticking out. We pulled the two terrorists outside and Zubeidi resisted with all his strength.

"He went mad, he kicked the soldiers and tried to run away up the hill. We caught him and he fell to the ground and was hit. The claims that we were violent toward him are not true. I looked at him blindfolded with cloth and remembered how two-and-a-half years ago we caught him near Ramallah after he tried to carry out a terrorist attack in Israel. This time the arrest was much simpler. He was right under our noses."

A week later, the Counterterrorism Unit (CTU) caught the last two of the escaped prisoners who were hiding in Jenin. Thanks to this operation and dozens of other classified arrests of ticking bombs, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett decided to give the CTU the title it has aspired to for almost five decades and declared that it would now become a national unit.

This is the first time in Israel's history that a security unit has received this status and the significance of the move is that the CTU will now receive a much larger budget than that it currently gets from the Israel Police. H. was also chosen to represent the Border Police at the Independence Day state ceremony. He will be one of the torchbearers in the name of the Border Police special forces who work to foil terror attacks.

Q: Are you excited?

"Very, and a little nervous," H. says laughing. "What will happen if everyone manages to light their torch and only I have a problem. Perhaps I should take a lighter in my pocket just to be on the safe side."

The Counterterrorism Unit was established 47 years ago and classified as a force specializing in hostage situations. Over the years, because of the security situation, the CTU has focused more on terrorist incidents and less so on the criminal side. Over time, the unit earned a reputation as one of the most professional and experienced counterterrorism forces in the world.

The CTU is made up of several companies: Two of them, Company A and Company B are composed mostly of uniform soldiers. Each company has four squadrons: A frontline squad that heads the force and includes dog handlers; a break in squad specializing in forcing open doors and use of explosives; a mechanized squad with drivers experienced in operating a variety of specialist vehicles and a "monkey" squad that specializes in climbing and abseiling. Three other companies provide constant backup: a sniper company; a company that operates special technological means and which also has an undercover force and a training company.

H., 51, is a father of three. No further biographical details can be provided so as not to expose his identity. We can say that he joined the unit in 1990, after spending four years in the IDF's Shimshon undercover unit that operated in Gaza until 1996.

"I never went on a post-army trip, I didn't dream about going to university, and during my furlough, before my release from the army I tried out for the CTU," H. says with a shy smile. "I've been here now for 30 years, with short spells in other Israel Police special forces. I served in the CTU as a combatant, as a squad leader, as commander of the training course, as commander of a combat company, as an intelligence officer, and as deputy commander of the unit.

Every time that I left for a broader role outside of the CTU, I learned something new. It's important to see how the criminal investigation department works, how interrogations are carried out, and how intelligence works. I stress to the CTU combatants just how important this is. This way they will be exposed to different ways of work and management and will return to the CTU with a broader vision about how to make decisions."

In the years in which H. served as a combatant in the unit, the CTU kept a low media profile and only major events were publicized.

Everything began after the Ma'alot Disaster in 1974. Sayeret Matkal [The IDF General Staff Reconnaissance Unit] tried to free the 105 pupils and dozens of teachers who had been locked up by the terrorists inside a school in Ma'alot. They managed to eliminate the terrorists, but only after 22 pupils were killed by the terrorists. In the wake of the disaster, the defense establishment came to the understanding that there is a difference between rescuing hostages and special operations conducted in enemy territory and decided to establish the CTU as a counterterrorism unit to develop unique combat methods for break-ins and freeing hostages with as few casualties as possible.

But not everything went smoothly. In 1984, when terrorists took over a bus on the way to Ashkelon, the CTU was supposed to storm the bus and eliminate the terrorists, but Moshe Levi, the IDF Chief of Staff at the time, decided to hand the mission to Sayeret Matkal.

When IDF soldier Nachshon Wachsman was kidnapped in 1994, the scenario repeated itself. Both the rival units arrived at the scene, but Shaul Mofaz, then commander of Judea and Samaria, and IDF Chief of Staff Ehud Barak decided to give the task to Sayeret Matkal rather than to the CTU. Wachsman was killed by the terrorists during the break-in and Captain Nir Poraz, a squad leader in Sayeret Matkal was killed in the operation.

At the time, H. was a newly appointed squad leader in the CTU. "We arrived at a point near Camp Ofer, about 10 minutes drive from the place where Wachsman was being held," he recalls. "A day earlier, we worked with the Shin Bet and conducted arrests, thanks to which the location of the hideout where the kidnappers were was revealed. The CTU prepared an operational plan, but it wasn't accepted. It was a disappointment. I didn't think that the command didn't trust us, but that they simply had more confidence in another unit. In those days, the public and decision-makers weren't really conscious of the CTU.

"We returned to the unit and some of the combatants were down. The veterans found it more difficult because they had experienced the insult of Bus 300. Assaf Hefetz, the Police Commissioner at the time, came to the unit to give a pep talk to the combatants. Fortunately, the people here are strong and the following day we just lifted ourselves and got on with work.

"There was no time for feeling aggrieved. It only spurred us on to succeed. At the time, events were taking place one after the other. As the CTU got more operations to carry out, it gained more recognition for its abilities and professionalism. Even the competition with Sayeret Matkal had mellowed."

For years the CTU has been stretched to the limit. Even though companies A and B are supposed to alternate among themselves so that one of them can always be in training, both spend most of their time on risky operations and as happened last week when the CTU caught the killers of a security guard in Ariel, laying siege and exchanging fire with terrorists classified as "ticking bombs".

The events of recent months remind H. of the Second Intifada at the beginning of the 2000s. Recently, the Israeli public has once again been the victim of a wave of terror which has already claimed the lives of 16 people. battle against the terrorists reached a peak in the morning. The laborious battle against the terrorists peaked in the early hours of Saturday morning, April 2, the second day of Ramadan.

Intelligence information obtained by the Shin Bet showed that three terrorists from Tulkarem armed with rifles and grenades were planning a terrorist attack in Israel. Among the possible scenarios were breaking into a Jewish community and murdering a family or random fire in a central town in a large town, as happened recently in Bnei Brak.

"On Friday evening, some four hours before the arrest operation, the unit's intelligence officer called me to report that one of the members of the cell had already left on foot in the direction of an IDF position. He shot around 50 rounds but didn't manage to hit anyone," says H. recalling the dramatic events of that traumatic night at the end of which four CTU fighters were injured, among them, the company commander, Chief Superintendent S.

"At that moment the fighters were getting ready at the unit; they didn't even have time for a cup of coffee. On the way, we already received precise intelligence the terrorists were heading in the direction of Jenin. We decided to wait for them until they left. Undercover cars with our fighters, some of them in civilian clothes, waited for them by the side of the road, near the town of Arabeh.

"At around 01:30 in the morning, a white Mazda approached us. We knew there were armed terrorists in the car. We blocked them with our car and planned to arrest them. They opened fire from about three meters away. There was a massive burst of fire from both sides. Thanks to special technological means and the body cameras carried by the fighters, I watched the exchange of fire from the command center not far away. I saw one of the fighters get hit and fall to the ground. At the same time, I heard over the radio that there was a man down. I knew immediately who it was. In the CTU, the company commanders are always at the head of the force.

Q. How did you react at that moment?

"As a commander, you conduct simulations and prepare yourself for moments like this. I worked on autopilot. The terrorists had already been eliminated and what concerned me now was getting medical care to S.

Q: Did the thought cross your mind that he perhaps wouldn't make it?

"No, not at any stage. I knew he would be fine."

The initial debriefing conducted by the CTU showed that S. wasn't hit by terrorist fire but by a bullet fired by one of the CTU fighters at the Mazda, which then ricocheted back in S.'s direction. In what was an extremely rare occurrence, shrapnel came through the millimeters wide gap between his bulletproof vest and his torso and hit him in his chest and lungs.

Q: Were you worried for a moment that it was friendly fire?

"No even before the debriefing. I told Border Police Commissioner Amir Cohen that it wasn't friendly fire. The picture was clear to me as soon as we saw the footage documenting the clash.

Q: What conclusions did you draw from the incident?

"That the terrorists are a lot more daring than in the past. They didn't surrender, they didn't hide their weapons, and one of them managed to fire 20 bullets before he was eliminated. The trend is changing. This is not the lone-wolf terror of eight years ago, and these are not people turning up with a knife. These are terrorists armed with weapons just like in the Second Intifada. We are making every effort to arrest them in Judea and Samaria before they reach Israel."

Despite the enormous efforts, the huge resources, and precise intelligence, one terrorist managed to slip under the radar of the security forces -- Raad Hazem, an illegal worker from the Jenin refugee camp who on April 7 carried out a terrorist attack on the Ilka Bar on Dizengoff Street in Tel Aviv.

Police forces, CTU, Shin Bet, and soldiers from IDF special forces units were sent to Tel Aviv to try and hunt down the terrorist who was hiding in the alleyways. He was found early the following morning nearby the Jaffa clocktower and was killed in an exchange of fire with fighters from the Shin Bet's operational unit.

Brig. Gen. H. was supposed to have managed his men from the command center but he left the site after a few minutes and joined the search for Hazem. Among other things, he was concerned about the large number of journalists on the ground, mingling with the security forces.
"I didn't like the fact that cameras were being pointed at my officers, even though they had their faces covered.

"I got even more worried when I saw citizens coming to the area to be in the thick of things and taking advantage of the fact that police were busy trying to locate the terrorist. I was afraid that we would have a friendly fire incident between civilians and soldiers or police officers. The CTU isn't used to working in an arena full of media and I hope that in the future it won't happen again.

Coming full circle

While Hazem managed to enter Israel, H. says that his fighters and the Shin Bet have managed to prevent dozens of other attempts to conduct terrorist attacks in Israel. "There isn't a week in which we don't go out at least two or three times to conduct arrest operations and foil ticking bombs. In a lot of cases, we catch the terrorists inside Israel ready to conduct an attack."

Q: Why aren't these operations made public?

"It's better that way. It isn't right to make the public panic when the Shin Bet has intelligence and everything is under control. The recent attacks had a detrimental effect on the public's morale and there is no need to add to this. We prefer to operate out of the spotlight and that's no different from how we operated in the past. Recently there has been a greater focus on our operations and the fighters are not comfortable with this. Immediately after the Independence Day state ceremony, we will return to the shadows."

In publishing its reasons for the choice of torchbearers, the public committee described the head of the CTU as a daring officer with many achievements, who has led countless operations in which he put his life at risk for the safety of the country. H. is embarrassed by the description and his face turns red. "I was very surprised he says moving uncomfortably on his chair. I guess it's because we have been declared a national unit and because of the recent series of security incidents.

"I received the notification from Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai. He made the choice together with the Public Security Minister. At first, I wasn't excited about it because I didn't digest it. It took me a few minutes for the penny to drop. How do I turn up? How do I avoid being recognized? I said to myself immediately that I'm not wearing a wig and glasses. I don't intend to make a fool of myself. I will be there in uniform and with my face covered."

Q: All the other torchbearers will present themselves and states their parents' names. What will you say?

"That is an issue that we deliberated over at first. I will present myself as Brig. Gen. H. and I won't say my parents' names. Without a doubt, I will be very excited at that moment.
You look more embarrassed than excited.

"That's true. Luckily for me, I will light the torch without anybody seeing me. The audience won't recognize me and will see only my eyes."

H.'s offices are opposite the entrance to the unit's base, somewhere in the center of the country, not far from the parking spot for the unit's Karakal armored vehicles and its vans with break-in ladders. He sits in a spartan building clad with Jerusalem stone. The flags of the State of Israel and the Border Police fly on his large wooden desk. On the wall behind him hangs the CTU's Declaration of Principles. Next to his office is a modest conference room where he met with the prime minister on Dec. 1.

"The process of recognition of the CTU as Israel's national counter-terror unit began in 2009 when I was the unit's intelligence officer," he says. "The unit commanders spoke with police commissioners and public security ministers and we knew that at the end of the day it would be a government decision. The issue was passed from government to government and it seems that they were afraid that the IDF would be annoyed, but the IDF supported this all along the way. The Border Police and Police commissioners didn't give up. Finally, it was a prime minister who served as a soldier in Sayeret Matkal and a public security minister who was a commander of Sayeret Matkal who recognized the CTU as a national unit.

Q: How did you receive the notification?

"That day, we were preparing for a graduation ceremony for fighters in the unit when the police commissioner called to say he was on the way. He told me that the prime minister would attend the ceremony where he would announce our new status. I was very happy, but I didn't lose my breath. I was even a little skeptical. From my experience, until it's signed, it's not sealed. When the prime minister sat here in the conference room, I asked him what the significance of the announcement would be. He said we would receive increased budgets and tenures. It was then that I knew it was real. We had come full circle. The unit will get stronger and stronger. When the prime minister made the announcement at the ceremony, the fighters couldn't hold back and whistled and clapped during his speech.

Q: How will this increase in budgets be felt on the ground?

"We will expand our existing companies and each squad will have more fighters. Based on the threat scenarios and the threats from the northern border and Gaza, the unit could find itself operating on several fronts at the same time."

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"The second aspect is technological: the special capabilities of the undercover fighters in the unit and our research and development. With the new budget, we can develop means such as new robots and drones, and upgrade our existing weaponry. Recently we purchased new Arad assault rifles supplied by Israel Weapons Industries.

"Another thing is that today we rely only on intelligence from the Shin Bet which is the best in the country, but I want to create independent tactical and strategic intelligence gathering capabilities here as well. We are a unique force in the world. We know how to thwart terrorist attacks and hit the planners, and at the same time fight criminals. Now I can plan how the unit will look five or 10 years into the future.

Q: Is it reasonable to assume that there will be no more debates about which unit will play the lead role in terror incidents where there is a hostage situation?

"That is a reasonable assumption," H. says with a smile. "Each one of the units that exist today in Israel knows what its role is. There are a lot of collaborations between us. For example, if a soldier is kidnapped and taken to Gaza, that would be an operation for Sayeret Matkal; if a similar event occurs in Judea and Samaria, then we will conduct the operation

Q: What do you dream of achieving in the rest of your term?

"Being number one in the world in intelligence and technology."

The post 'Terrorists are growing more brazen, just as they did during the 2nd Intifada' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Former Israel Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz and other retired senior officers have recently criticized the way the police have functioned over the past year, wondering if the Mount Meron disaster, the surging crime in the Arab sector, the riots in mixed cities, and overall public dissatisfaction with the force, indicate that the police have turned into a security apparatus that is unable to perform its primary mission: protecting the public.

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Commander Boaz Goldberg, head of human resources at the Israel Police, says that while criticism is warranted, the situation is hardly as bleak as Hefetz and other retired police brass made it appear.

"I'm not looking for cheerleaders to tell me how well I'm doing, but I do not accept the claims of the former commissioners who dare to criticize the police," Goldberg said. "Some of them served in the police a long time ago and they are no longer familiar with the organization's processes and considerations."

"There is no doubt that the past year was very challenging -  the Miron disaster, the riots during Operation Guardian of the Walls, and the sharp increase in homicides in the Arab community. There have been claims that the police were not prepared for the disturbances in mixed towns, but I am not aware of any organization that functions at 100% in extreme events.  The number of police officers available in routine is not sufficient for such events, and it took us a few hours before we were ready Nevertheless, we prepared quickly enough. We called up reserve forces and we diverted forces to hotspots."

The former commissioners said things that the public also thinks: The crisis of faith between the police force and citizens and the declining status of police officers cannot be ignored.

"The police with the minimal resources available are collapsing under the weight of the missions it is required to fulfill, and in addition, it has to enforce coronavirus regulations, so at the end of the day, the public pays the price. This comes at the expense of other missions. We do not have enough officers to do everything. We are a small and smart police force. But that requires budgets as well because you can't make something out of nothing"

Q: What led to the wave of resignations by police officers this year?

"In 2021, a total of 603 officers resigned from the force, 150 more than in 2019. I won't discuss 2020, because that was the year of the coronavirus and the number of those who resigned was low. The wave of resignations is a trend that is not unique to the police force. It is a global trend that characterizes the young generation. Generation Z feels less committed to its place of work and is looking for the next stage in life. You can see such phenomena in other security organizations in Israel as well, and in the private sector, including in high-tech.

"On the other hand, in an organization where salaries aren't high and work hours are long, then sometimes the sense of duty is overwhelmed by the great pressure endured. There isn't a single police officer who hasn't done weekend shifts. The police officers are burned out. I have spoken with officers who have resigned and some of them saw that in the private sector they could earn more. They work for a low salary and are under heavy pressure. Others spoke of the inability to create a life-work balance. There were others yet who said the organization was too trigger-happy when it came to calling officers in from home. They think it's not always necessary and we want to correct that.

"Another issue is the way they are treated by their commanders. We have removed several officers from their positions, and we have set up a special team to make sure that commanders do not mistreat their subordinates. As soon as the organization gives better service to its people, police officers will give better service to the public.

"I am sure that there are police officers who feel uncomfortable being in uniform because of the poor image of the police. For years everybody has been down on us,  from politicians, the media, and the public. If nobody likes you, then it's a sign that you are doing your job. I often say to police officers: 'be strong carry out your mission and most of the problems connected to the image of the force will sort themselves out.'"

Q: What needs to be done so that they can feel comfortable with the organization they serve with?

"We surveyed 25,000 out of the 32,000 officers currently serving in the police force. The initial findings point to burnout resulting from long work hours, low wages, and the way they are treated by commanders. In the wake of these results, the Police Commissioner declared 2022 as the 'Year of the Police Officer.' We initiated a project called 'Windbreaker' in which the police will provide staff with better terms and conditions. We will send police officers on workshops and vacations. We will make sure they are treated properly by commanders. We will invest professionally and we will defend police officers who have had complaints filed against them, who have been threatened, or who have been shamed on social networks.

"The program will also include rent and mortgage assistance for police officers. For the first time, we have allocated NIS 34 million from our budget to give out excellence awards. Each district commander will be allowed to give financial bonuses to outstanding police officers. Another thing that is important to us is to reduce the number of weekly work hours from 47.5 to 42, which is the average number of weekly work hours in the Israeli economy"

Q: Since when do security organizations punch a time card?

"There is no entity in Israel that endures the conditions endured by the police. The goal is to reduce burnout by cutting half an hour a day and setting a police officer's shift at eight hours. People didn't used to believe that it was possible to cut the number of workdays from six to five, but it happened. It is only the police that has remained in the same place."

Superintended Goldberg, 58, joined the police force 33 years ago, serving initially with the Yamam counterterrorism unit. In 1990, he took part in an operation on the southern border in which his unit neutralized a terrorist cell that had infiltrated into Israel and was awarded an order of bravery for his role. He is married to Eti, a surgical nurse, with whom he has four children: Ohad, 34, who serves as head of the central region drug squad; Avihu, 32, who is a police bomb disposal expert; Ophir, 30, a woodwork artist and decorator;  and 'A', 23,  who serves in a classified Border Police unit.

Q: How much does a police officer fresh out of training earn?

They make around NIS 9000 a month, gross, which works out at a net salary of around NIS 7400. Five or six years ago that sum stood at NIS 5000, and we are talking about people who work around the clock, including weekend shifts, and being on-call. Today, a police officer who joins the force can get rent assistance if he lives a certain distance away from where he works and there are various operational increments, for example for service in Jerusalem. But I agree that the police force does not pay its officers properly and we need a bigger budget.

"We are one of the smallest police forces in the OECD, and we have to do a lot with what we have: We deal with security challenges that do not exist in other countries. In Israel, there are on average 3.5 police officers per 1,000 people but that calculation is problematic because it includes 8, 000 Border Police who do not participate in patrols, traffic enforcement, or investigations. If we remove the Border Police from the calculation, then we have roughly 2.5 police officers per 1,000 residents. For comparison's sake, in Greece, there are 4.7 police officers for every 1,000 residents and in Italy, 4.5 We do not have enough officers."

Q: The police have always had to deal with budgetary issues. What's changed now?

Today everybody understands the critical importance of the police in maintaining national security: Security threats, battles on the cyber front and missiles, growing domestic threats. Crime is becoming more sophisticated. It is moving into the cyber dimension and the police must be one step ahead of the criminals. On the ground, we have to deal with lone-wolf terrorism, protests where police are subjected to violence,  crime families that have entrenched their grip on the Arab community, and public corruption."

"The population of Israel has grown significantly in recent years but the police force has not. There is no correlation between the number of residents and the number of police officers. Some towns have doubled in size but no staff has been added to local police stations.

"The State of Israel must decide whether it wants a good police force or whether it wishes to finish off the police force. If it wants a good police force, then it needs to add manpower and budgets because otherwise, it is the public that is harmed. So can I tell you we have enough manpower?  No. On the other hand, I can't tell the government that I won't carry out orders."

Q: Are you referring to enforcement of coronavirus regulations?

"The police force is the enforcement body; there is no one else."

Q: What would you do differently?

"I would expect that on such issues, the state and local authorities would take responsibility."

Q: Does having to enforce mask-wearing and quarantine impact police work?

"We are one of the only police forces in the world that deals so extensively with enforcement and we have handed out the highest number of fines. Obviously, this mission affects us, comes at the expense of other policing missions, and stretches our manpower to the limit, and more than anything it impacts the relationship between police and citizens. Coronavirus enforcement creates friction with the public, most of which is law-abiding and normative.

"We drew conclusions and learned lessons from the first waves, we released documentation of confrontations with civilians from officers' body cameras, and we feel that criticism of the police on this matter has declined.  Today we deal more with providing information, with enforcement against serial violators, and with places with a high potential for infection. The public must know that adhering to restrictions is a personal responsibility and enforcement is not a replacement."

Last month, after three years without a budget, the state budget for 2021-2023. The budget allocates NIS 14 billion for the police for the coming year, and a further NIS 2 billion, specifically designated mostly for crime in the Arab sector.

"In the past three years, the force hasn't grown by even one police officer and we were unable to make technological advances," says Goldberg. The Police Commissioner asked a further 5,000 officers, but in the end, only 1,100, which is not an insignificant number, were approved. All told,  90% of those positions will be allocated for field personnel - primarily for police stations in the Arab sector and the expansion of the Border Police for backup purposes so that we will be prepared for extreme events.

The police officers will be more available to the public. A citizen who calls the 100 hotline will see a greater response,  there will be more patrol cars on the road, more forces at police stations to deal with crime, such as car theft, burglaries, and disputes between neighbors. Local police forces will not be required to provide backup as much as they were before,  for example for disturbances in Jerusalem because the Border Police will respond.

Q: There has been a deterioration in police deterrence. People are less afraid of the police and do not hesitate to confront officers, insult them, or document them with video on social media

"It is true that there has been an erosion in the deterrence of the police. This derives to a great extent from the lack of support they have received they received from certain elements. For example, the questioning of two Border Police officers who recently neutralized a terrorist at the Damascus Gate harms deterrence. Around 70% of the criminals caught today for possession of firearms don't sit a single day in prison. A police officer works 24 hours a day, writes up a report, brings the suspect to court,  only to find that the courts release the suspect home."

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"A few days ago, we arrested a young man from Rishon Lezion who wrote on Facebook 'Murder Shabtai [Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai], and the sooner the better.' The man was calling for the murder of the police commissioner. He was brought before a court which decided to send him home. That is very frustrating for the police officers. It weakens them and their ability to act."

Q: Perhaps the decline in deterrence is connected to the decline in public trust in the police. Every year the police force reports a decline in criminal activity. But at the same time, we see gunfire on the roads in the south, and the settling of accounts between crime families.

"At the end of the day, it's difficult to change perceptions. The deployment of special units in the battle against crime will bring results, and there has already has been a change. A few months ago, to reestablish deterrence in mass disturbances such as the events of Guardian of the Walls, the Police Commissioner instructed that police resume using batons after 20 years in which they had not been in use."

Q: Will the use of batons return public trust in the police?

 "What will return public trust is the support the police force will give to its officers with the new budget. Because if things are good for the police officers, things will be better for the public.

Despite the tendency to bash the police and to talk about public trust, every day we receive over 100 requests to join the police force. Given the planned addition in the number of officers, we recently launched an advertising campaign calling on people to join the police force,  and the number of approaches we received has doubled. This alone shows that the Israel Police is considered an organization that plays a significant role in Israeli society.

"The selection process will go on for a year. But these numbers will allow us to recruit those who are the most suitable."

The post 'When the police are stretched too thin, the public suffers' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Amid global uncertainty, with Moderna CEO Stéphane Bancel expressing doubts about whether his company's vaccine is effective against the Omicron variant, and head of Public Health Services Dr. Sharon Elroi Preiss expressing concerns in the Knesset that the virus could mutate and spread, Professor Eli Sprecher from Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, the expert behind the models that predict Israel's number of serious COVID cases, is sticking to the easier line he has espoused since the pandemic reached Israel in early 2020.

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Sprecher has been tracking the low number of confirmed cases currently in Israel, and sees no reason for panic.

"The decision to stop incoming tourism for two week was reasonable," he tells Israel Hayom.

"I'm doubtful it matters, because there's no way of keeping variants out of Israel, especially when they're really contagious. The decision might delay things a bit. There's no difference between a tourist from another country who arrives in Israel and an Israeli resident who returns from a vacation in that country, other than the assumption that Israelis have to come home," he says.

"I would make sure to keep careful tabs on people who arrive from abroad and after the period of self-isolation, and bring [the option of] electronic tracking bracelets back to the table. At this time, I would invest in a vaccination campaign, because they provide the best protection against Omicron. I don't remember when we had such an effective and safe vaccine. I don't understand how when offered a gift like this, which comes from science, there are people who refuse it."

Q: Can you understand parents who are afraid to vaccinate their children?

"Definitely. I don't dismiss them or judge them. It's our responsibility as doctors and as a healthcare system to explain, and convince them to."

Q: If you had a five-year-old, would you vaccinate them?

"Obviously. I'd be standing in line the first day."

Sprecher touches on the wild incitement against doctors who take a stance in support of vaccines.

"The fact that Sharon Elroi Preiss is forced to have a security detail is terrible, in my opinion. Since COVID, we've seen the social discourse become radicalized, and medicine is at the center of that discourse. Israel is not a violence-free country, but I've never seen such a base outburst of it toward doctors."

Q: Do you think Omicron will affect us in Israel?

"I can't say it won't. It's impossible to say that it won't influence the number of cases, but there are currently no data that allow me to say otherwise. It was clear variants would arrive, and this won't be the last. Israel is in good shape right now, but also vulnerable, because of a critical mass of people who aren't vaccinated."

Q: Are we facing a fifth wave?

"We aren't facing a fifth wave, and we won't be two weeks from now, either. What will happen after that, I can't say."

Q: So how long will COVID last?

"A few years, I think. A wild guess – less than 10 years."

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The post 'How can people refuse a gift like the COVID vaccine?' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Shmuel Peleg can barely hold back his tears looking at his grandson, 6-year-old Eitan Biran, sitting on the blue sofa of the social services office in Tel Aviv, building a spaceship from the new Lego set he received as a gift. 

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Since the Tel Aviv District Court ruled that by bringing Biran to Israel against the wishes of the boy's Italian relatives, Peleg had committed kidnapping, the two can only meet under the supervision of a social worker. 

Biran is the sole survivor of the cable car disaster that occurred on May 23 in northern Italy. Peleg lost his daughter Tal, son-in-law Amit and younger grandson Tom in the incident. Tal's grandfather, Itshak Cohen, and his wife Barbara were also killed in the disaster, along with 9 other locals and tourists. 

Since then, Biran's maternal grandparents in Israel and his paternal relatives in Italy have both sought custody.

"Meeting Eitan at a pre-agreed location, when there is a social worker next to me all the time, is not easy," Peleg told Israel Hayom. "Ever since Eitan was taken from me, three weeks ago, I've felt that he is disappointed in me. He stopped hugging me and jumping on me. I see how the open and chatty child, who wouldn't stop talking about how happy he was to live in Israel, closed off. It breaks my heart. I promised him that he would live here with us, but the court ruled otherwise.

"This week, he opened up a bit. Maybe because I came with his two aunts, Gali and Aviv, and they kept making him laugh. We played with Pokemon cards, and then he took my phone to take a selfie with me. I decided to speak to him gently about his return to Italy because I knew that Aya, his father's sister, had already spoken to him about it.

"I asked him what he thought, but he closed off and said he didn't want to talk about it. I think this is a defense mechanism, he is preparing for when he will be disconnected from us. This is also how he reacts when someone tries to talk to him about his parents or the disaster.

"I told him that I love him, that I will come to visit him in Italy, and that he can call me any time he wants."

Unfortunately, there is no guarantee that Peleg will be able to keep his promise and travel to Italy any time soon. Recently, an international arrest warrant was issued against him in the country, which means the moment he sets foot on Italian territory, he will be arrested and subject to criminal investigation for alleged kidnapping. 

Q: What was your reaction to the arrest warrant?

"I was very surprised. I was not trying to be a hero or play James Bond. I am Eitan's grandfather and I wanted to save him because it seemed to us that he was in distress." 

Q: Was the arrest warrant and criminal investigation worth the risk? 

"If securing Eitan's freedom means mine has to be taken away, then yes. His well-being comes first. A miracle occurred, and God saved him once. I tried a second time, and in the meantime, I failed. But we will appeal with the Supreme Court, and I hope they will think otherwise. That they will focus on what's best for Eitan and rule to keep him in Israel."

Previously, the Tel Aviv District Court ruled that "with all understanding of the appellant's [Peleg] pain, there is no option but to dismiss the appeal. We order him to be returned to Italy within 15 days," noting that although Peleg had taken Biran from the country illegally, they hoped "the minor will be allowed to meet his grandfather in Italy."

Q: Courts in Italy and Israel did not accept your claims. Why do you think the Supreme Court would be any different? 

"I hope they will put Eitan's best interest in the center. One day, not long from now, Eitan will read about the legal battle around him on Google. He will see that I fought for him until the end, and didn't give up on him at any point."

Outside Peleg's apartment in Petach Tikva, there is a child's motorcycle and basketball stand, which he purchased for his grandson as soon as he arrived in Israel. These are the remaining toys of the myriad of games that used to line the living room but have since been moved to a storage room.

"I gathered all the games, the puzzles, the pens, and the balls because I could not look at them anymore," a distraught Peleg said. He lives alone, having divorced Tal's mother, Eti, 20 years ago. 

"The storage room is bursting with games and superhero toys. They reminded me of Eitan and the fun we had in the month he spent with me in Israel. We went to the beach, to Latrun, because he asked to see tanks, and we even celebrated his sixth birthday later. He celebrated in Italy, but without his extended family in Israel. 

"He got so excited about the celebration and decided to organize more family gatherings. He drew a heart, asked me to write on it that he was inviting everyone to a pajama party or a Spider-Man and sweets party, and asked to send in the family Whatsapp group. But my favorite part was when he would go to bed and fall asleep while holding my hand." 

A lot has been written about the tragedy that took the lives of 14 people. As the cable car reached the final stop, moments before the doors opened, one of the cables snapped, pulling the car and tossing it to the ground from a 20-meter (65 feet) height. Eitan was the only survivor of the crash and was hospitalized with critical injuries. Thankfully, he recovered, regaining consciousness three days later. 

Peleg recalled the last few conversations he had with his daughter. 

"The last time she, Amit, and the kids were in Israel was last December. They came for Hanukkah for a month and stayed over. After the kids fell asleep, the three of us sat on the balcony and spoke about their return to Israel in June 2022, after Tal finished her bachelor's degree in psychology and Amit finished his medical studies. 

"One evening, before they went back to Italy, Tal came into my room and sat next to me. In hindsight, I think it was a kind of farewell conversation. She said, 'Dad, I feel I am losing you. You don't tell me about yourself. Open up, I am not a child.' I promised her it would change, but, unfortunately, I did not deliver.

"Around April, Tal and Amit moved to a bigger apartment in Pavia. A month before the lease on their old apartment ended, she insisted that I come to visit them. I told her I had tons of work and that we should meet in the summer already, during a family trip to Amalfi that we planned. Sometimes I wonder what would have happened if I had gone to visit them. Perhaps, I would have gotten into the cable car as well."

Peleg paused for a moment, then took out his phone to show messages from Tal asking to renew Eitan's Israeli passport that was about to expire. 

"She asked me to pick up the passport. I was supposed to bring it to them in the summer."

He continued: "The night before the disaster is when I spoke with Tal for the last time. She sent videos of the children, Eitan so happy, and said that they were planning to go on the cable car the next day. I told her we'd speak in the afternoon when she'll be on her way home.

"Tal called me at 10:10 a.m. from Amit's phone," Peleg continued with tears in his eyes. "I don't know what she wanted to say. That is when they left the hotel and were on their way to the Mottarone" mountain where the crash occurred.

"I called her back in the afternoon, but the phone was disconnected. I called Amit, but couldn't reach him either. I assumed they were in an area that had no cell service. I didn't know that news outlets had already reported on the tragedy. 

"In the evening, Amit's mother called weeping. She screamed, 'Tal died, Amit died, Tom died, Eitan is in critical condition.' I thought I would have a heart attack. I cried like crazy, and haven't been able to stop crying ever since."

Peleg immediately flew to Italy and, sitting beside Eitan's hospital bed, met Amit's sister, Aya Biran. 

"We hugged. We were all in shock and grieving then," he said. "Eitan was in the intensive care unit. There were tubes coming out of his body and his legs and hands were in casts. Aya told me she was overseeing the matter and talking to doctors. I told her I trusted her to take care of Eitan because I had to arrange the funerals in Israel."

All five family members who lost their lives in the disaster were laid to rest in Israel. 

"I went into autopilot mode. I told a representative of the Israeli Embassy in Italy that I wanted to see the bodies, and they took me. I saw little Tommy first. His face was calm. I kissed him. After, I went to Tal. I saw blue marks on her. I hugged and kissed her, and cried. I told her I loved her and apologized for not protecting her. Then I kissed Amit, and I bid farewell to Eti's father and his wife," Peleg said, unable to hold back the tears.

That same evening, he returned to the hospital.

"Aya told me that a judge would come the next day and that we needed to decide who would have custody of Eitan, otherwise the state would transfer him into foster care. She volunteered since she is a doctor and she speaks the language.

"At that point, I agreed with her, but I remember stressing, 'I don't know what will happen in the future, but Eitan needs to move to Israel.' She said, 'I understand that the situation changed. Maybe we will have to move to Israel.' I asked whether both of us could be responsible for Eitan, and she said she would ask the judge.

"There were about 30 people in the room, and the conversation was conducted in Italian. I asked the judge to speak in English, but she continued in Italian. An Italian doctor who had training in Israel tried to translate for me, but she barely spoke Hebrew. 

"At some point, I told the judge in English the word 'temporary,' to make it clear that we were talking about temporary custody. She repeated the word and nodded. My understanding was that Aya would be responsible for the medical matters, and after the funerals, we would decide together how to proceed."

The next day Peleg flew to Israel on a plane that carried the five coffins as well. A day later, Eitan regained consciousness for the first time. 

"On May 30, four days after returning to Israel, I flew to Italy again," Peleg continued. "Aya said the court had made a decision already, and they decided she would have custody of Eitan until he turned 18. I was angry. I told her we did not agree on this, that we spoke of temporary custody, and agreed that we would make a decision together. I suggested we approach the judge together and settle the matter, but she refused.

"From that moment on, I have been in a daze. Twenty minutes I stood next to Eitan's bed, as he was under anesthesia and on a respirator, and a decision was made about his life without considering what was best for him. No social worker or psychologist spoke to him after he woke up. 

"If I had known that Aya was trying to get permanent custodianship over Eitan, I would have stopped the meeting altogether, refused to attend, and called a lawyer. The plan was that she would be in charge in case of urgent medical treatments."

"In hindsight, I know that nothing was conducted properly. The Turin judge had no authority to preside over a case of a boy from Pavia, there was no official interpreter, I did not receive any protocols, and I only received the ruling after I asked Aya.

"From then on, my life mostly revolved around the courts in Italy. We appealed the judge's decision in Pavia, and we applied for custodianship in a court in Milan."

The appeal in Pavia was rejected. Eitan was discharged from the hospital on June 10 and was taken to Biran's home. The bitter custody battle between the family members continued.

"Then we felt we were being distanced from Eitan. Aya was the one who decided when Eti and I could visit him, and for how long. I am Eitan's grandfather, why should I have to beg to see him? Why should I be told that 'the weekends are for family' without being taken into account? Am I not his family?

"We felt we were being treated as strangers, [they were] doing their utmost to keep us away from Eitan and prevent us from seeing him. Eitan had gone through a terrible tragedy, losing his parents and brother, and it is a time he should be supported the most, not for his family members to be pushed away. 

"This situation exhausted Eti and caused me despair. Not a single decision with regard to Eitan went through us, and we were not consulted. When the court allowed us to take Eitan for walks outside, our impression was that he did not want to return to Aya. He asked me more than once whether he could fly to Israel with me."

On Sept. 3, the first seeds of the plan to bring Eitan to Israel began to root. 

"My Italian lawyer asked me to come to her office in Milan so that we could prepare a summary of all the legal proceedings," Peleg said. "That was the first time she told me that after a thorough examination of all the documents in our possession, it appeared that Aya did not have full custodianship and the ability to determine Eitan's residence. 

"The court in Turin only ruled that Aya was responsible for the medical procedures and his property. The lawyer argued that in fact, no one had been assigned full responsibility for Eitan until he turned 18. She described the situation as 'legal void.'

"I sat there for three hours and realized that we might have come across a breakthrough. Then I remembered about Eitan's passport, which was in my possession. I told the lawyer about Aya's claims that the court in Pavia had ruled that she could demand she be given the passport. 

"The attorney said that as long as no ruling was issued on the matter, I did not have to hand it over. My next question was whether there was legal impediment to taking Eitan out of the country. The lawyer said she never received such orders from the court. 

"I stepped out from her office and was walking toward my hotel when I thought for the first time about the possibility of bringing Eitan to Israel. On the one hand, I understood that it was legal. On the other hand, I knew Aya would fight and that there would be a discussion in Israel and Italy, that would expose me and I would no longer be a private person. I decided to consult another Italian lawyer, who told me the exact same thing. 

"For a few days, this was the only thing I was busy with. I shared the idea with no one because I wanted to have a clear mind, without the influence of others. It was important for me for this to be my decision."

Q: Perhaps the reason you refrained from talking about your plan with others was because you understood it was a problematic move that might lead to legal consequences? 

"That is incorrect. I would never dare do anything illegal. I only acted in Eitan's best interest and fulfilled my daughter's unwritten will. I hoped the Israeli legal system would stand by me because I have documents and evidence that the proceedings in Turian were supposedly incorrect.

"After all, it makes no sense that the judge did not appoint a social worker for Eitan, to see what decision would be best for him. We cannot be treated as objects that have no feelings. 

"I saw with my own eyes that with time, I would be distanced from Eitan completely. The relations between the families will only deteriorate. I created the plan the day before we flew to Israel."

Through an acquaintance, Shmuel got in touch with a Cypriot, who agreed to drive them in a rented car to the airport. 

"At the same time, I ordered a private plane to wait for us in Switzerland that cost 60,000 euros. It was clear to me that I shouldn't take Eitan on a commercial flight, both because he was still using a walker, and also due to the coronavirus." 

On Sept. 11, Peleg picked up his grandson for a pre-arranged walk in the park. The two were supposed to return at 6:30 p.m.

"We got in the car, Eitan and I sat in the back," Peleg continued. "I brought a bag with clothes, snacks, toys, and cards to play with. I was calm. We drove for an hour and a half on the highway to Lugano, Switzerland. I asked Eitan on the way if he was okay with going on a trip and he said 'yes.' The whole time, he played and laughed."

Q: If the move was illegal, why fly from Switzerland, not Italy? 

"In terms of distance, traveling from Pavia, Lugano, and Milan is similar. The decisive factor was the private plane and the suitable flight times. I only found such an option in Switzerland. Throughout the trip, I kept checking in with Eitan if everything was alright. If he showed the slightest signs of worry, I would have returned him."

Q: When did you tell him that the two of you would fly to Israel?

"I planned to tell him when we got to the [Swiss] airport. I thought that if he refused, we would return. The border with Switzerland is open, so we crossed it without a passport check. When we got to the airport, and Eitan saw the planes, he said he wanted to fly to Israel. I asked him several times, 'Are you sure you want to fly?' and he was so joyous.

"The driver took us all the way to the plane, where a customs officer approached us. He recognized Eitan and asked me if he was the boy who survived the cable crash. I said yes. He asked for our passports, and went to check them with the Israeli embassy Switzerland and the Italian police."

Q: Did it occur to you that what you were doing might have possibly been a kidnapping? After all, two courts have already ruled that it was. 

"It was not a kidnapping. Two Italian lawyers told me that there was no problem with flying Eitan to Israel. I did not hide Eitan in a suitcase, did not forge a passport, or fake an identity. Everything was straightforward. Twenty minutes later, the customs officer approved our flight."

Q: Did you know that kidnapping a minor carries a 7-year prison sentence in Israel? 

"I can't deny, it does worry me."

By the time Biran was waiting for her nephew and trying to reach Peleg by phone, the two had already landed at Ben-Gurion International Airport.

"Eitan was so excited," Peleg said, smiling for the first time since his interview began. "Only then I called Eti and our kids and told them that I brought Eitan with me. Everyone was shocked but supported me. 

"We had no problem entering Israel. As with any private flight, photos of our passports were sent to the airport 24 hours before departure. We passed passport control very fast. When we stepped outside the airport, I knew Eitan had finally come home, and that is the message that I sent to Aya." 

Q: In essence, you ignored the fact that for years, Eitan lived in Italy. 

"I did no such thing. The entire time I said that if authorities in Israel and Italy conducted a thorough examination of what is best for Eitan, and decided that staying in Pavia would be the right thing for him, I would accept it. The problem is that until today nobody spoke with him or tried to understand what he wanted."

The day after Peleg landed in Israel, a complaint was filed against him with the police. Two days later, he was summoned for questioning, after which he was released on a five-day house arrest. 

"I told them what I just told you," Peleg explained. "That I acted according to the law, consulted with lawyers, and there was no legal impediment to flying Eitan to Israel. Aya also took him on a nine-day vacation without giving advance notice. She acted with forcefulness and demanded that we do as she pleases. My wishes were nonexistent for her."

Biran arrived in Israel on Sept. 19 and turned to a family court requesting Peleg's move be ruled as kidnapping. Meanwhile, the court ruled that Eitan would stay at both Peleg and Biran, alternating every three days.

During proceedings, it became clear that an arrest warrant had been issued against Peleg in Pavia on Aug. 10, at Biran's request. For reasons unknown, the warrant was never sent to Peleg's lawyers. 

On Oct. 25, the Israeli court ruled that Eitan should return to Pavia and that the custody proceeding should continue in Italy. The judge noted that Biran's appointment as custodian was decided after a thorough analysis. Peleg was ordered to pay 70,000 shekels ($22,000) in legal fees. 

"From then on, Aya decided on her own not to bring Eitan to me," Peleg continued. "I waited for him outside, but they did not come. I went to court, and it was decided that I could only meet him under the supervision of a social worker."

At the same time, Peleg appealed the ruling with the Tel Aviv District Court. On Sept. 11, his appeal was rejected, requiring him to pay another NIS 50,000 ($16,000) in fees. 

Q: Do you not think that Eitan would be well off with his aunt? He is the only child left behind after her brother died. 

"I never said Aya doesn't love him. Even today, with all the bad blood between us, I think everything should be done for Eitan's sake. He has two families, and that is what I have been telling him this whole time. But the other side acted as if we didn't exist."

Q: Does the arrest warrant make you anxious? 

"Any police investigation is stressful, but no extradition request has been submitted to Israel. I hope that my lawyers in Italy will succeed in rescinding the ruling." 

Q: If they don't, and your appeal with the Supreme Court is rejected, you might not see Eitan for many years. 

"There is a horrible scenario in my head that the next time I see Eitan might only be when he turns 18."

According to Peleg, "Aya asked for what belonged to Tal, claiming that it now belongs to Eitan. She also wanted what was on Tal's body … How can one be so cruel and try to lay hands on what belonged to my daughter?"

Q: What would Tal say about you bringing Eitan to Israel? 

"I am sure that she is looking down from above and is proud of me. Sometimes, I dream of her at night, that we are sitting across from each other and talking about Eitan."

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Peleg's attorney, Ronen Daliahu, told Israel Hayom the plan is to argue vis-à-vis the Supreme Court that Israel is Eitan's permanent residence. 

"His parents went to Italy temporarily for studies, and were planning to return to Israel," he said. "This is the natural place for the minor to be, as his parents wanted and hoped, for him to grow up as an Israeli and a Jews. The court must focus on the minor's best interest.

"In addition, we will question Aya's designation as custodian. The legal system in Italy is different than in Israel, and when it comes to custodianship, there are different concepts. There is 'parental authority' and there is one level lower, which is what Aya got. For every action, she must obtain court approval in Italy. It is also clear from the documents she submitted to the Israeli court. 

"Also, the procedure for determining custodianship over Eitan was allegedly done incorrectly. The decision was made after a 20-minute hearing, without minutes, and without a social worker or impartial psychologist appointed by the court. As such, it is difficult for the [Peleg] family to come to terms with the result.

"Based on the information we received, while in the beginning, Italian media predominantly supported the Biran family, now it publishes pieces questioning the correctness of the legal proceedings. The alleged negligence began with the disaster, and should not be dragged into the legal proceedings," Daliahu said. 

Biran's attorneys, Shmuel Moran and Avi Chimi, said in a statement: "All the allegations that Shmuel Peleg makes, again and again, are unfounded and have been rejected one by one by two courts – in Israel and abroad – in reasonable and well-founded judgments, and in a sweeping and absolute manner."

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"Mr. Peleg's attempts to bring them up time and again will not turn them into facts or truth. It is a shame that instead of accepting the ruling, Mr. Peleg views the law as a recommendation alone, not to mention the serious criminal allegations and arrest warrants issued against him. 

"The fact is – and this is well known to him – Mr. Peleg consistently disrespected court rulings regarding visitation arrangements in Israel … Moreover, Aya Biran's lawyers turned to Mr. Peleg again and again suggesting he let Eitan return to [normal] life [in Italy], to the interrupted psychiatric treatment and school. Eitan needs peace and recovery. All requests were countered with more slander, defamation, disregard of Eitan's needs and disrespect for the law. 

"Mr. Peleg and his accomplices took the law into their own hands and committed kidnapping. By refusing to let Eitan return to his home and life routine, they now add insult to injury. Peleg and his adviser's continued aggressive use of the media … is outrageous, but not surprising.

"The Biran family, on their part, will not give in to the unnecessary exposure of the shameful affair created by Mr. Peleg himself and sees no need at the moment to reveal what happened in Eitan's life in the months leading up to the kidnapping. It is a shame that the grandfather puts himself before his grandson."

The post 'When Eitan grows up, he'll know I did my utmost to fight for him' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

In a special interview with Israel Hayom, Israel's first coronavirus chief insists we need to get used to living with the coronavirus and "stop publishing the number of new infections every day."

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Gamzu, who currently serves as director of the Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center, spoke to Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and Health Minister Nitzan Horowitz a few weeks ago, when a fourth national lockdown was on the table.

"I told them lockdowns are a solution of weakness. It needs to be removed from our vocabulary. Look at what's happening in a lot of places around the world, including the US. They've learned to live alongside the pandemic. We don't need to push the numbers of new confirmed cases on the public every morning. The government needs to be responsible, to tell citizens: There are rules, this is the direction, but we want you to continue to live your lives, within the framework of the restrictions that have been determined."

He said: "The coronavirus will not disappear from our lives, so we're supposed to count confirmed cases every day? Every day, we'll publish the positive test rate? Do you know whether the positive infection rate includes antigens or not? What does a 4% infection rate mean to the public? Does this include serological tests at nursing homes or not?

"So the news says the positive test rate has increased from three to 4%. What does the [average] citizen understand from that? I want people to stop focusing on the number of new infections. I want people to feel comfortable about going to get tested, and not immediately say: 'In Holon, there are this many infections, in Modi'in there are that many.'"

Q: What do you think of the government's handling of the pandemic in recent months?

"The management is very complicated. The public diplomacy efforts too, both in finding places where people do not adhere to the guidelines and [there isn't enough] enforcement and fighting fake news and dealing with pandemic deniers. We need to work on specifics, learn about these places, initiate processes, get mayors to send out people to supervise, compensate mayors and communities so that they can increase their oversight force.

"The management [of the pandemic] on a macro level has not been particularly successful in Israel - both that of the current government as well as its predecessor, as well as the one before that and the one before that. I run Ichilov [TSMC] far better. I get into the details. The feedback I receive, my control system, is better than what is happening all over Israel."

Q: When you were coronavirus chief, did you feel like the government's handling of the pandemic was influenced by politics?

"This kind of an event brings together professionals and politicians. I can't tell politicians not to get involved. That's a lost cause, they will continue to intervene. But professionals need to stand up to them like a wall, to designate the red lines, to fight.

"Do you think the whole issue of banning travel to Uman was easy for me? That it was easy to shut down the education system in red cities? I had to fight the [government's so-called coronavirus] cabinet for that."

Q: Should the health minister be a professional in the field such as yourself?

"Yes, but in the end, politics penetrates everything. I don't know when there will be a professional in this role here. I would be very happy to do it. Tell me tomorrow, and I will leave Ichilov and go and do it. Obviously, it's one of my aspirations. Having a professional in this role would really help."

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The post Former COVID chief: Lockdowns not the solution appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

Late one night last week, while she was still in her office at the Infectious disease institute at Sheba Medical Center at Tel Hashomer, the door of Professor Galia Rahav's office clicked open. A security guard walked in, looked around, and asked if she was all right. The doctor, who this past year had become the public face of COVID, looked at him, tiredly, and smiled.

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"If you're smiling, I'll try to stay calm," he told her. "We'll come by in an hour to make sure everything's OK."

For the past four months, Rahav has been the target of uncontrolled incitement on social media. Anti-vaxxers haven't let her alone since she suggested in February that Israel vaccinate children ages 12-15 for COVID. Although the vaccine isn't mandatory, opponents have wished her dead, called her "Mengele," and promised to carry out the Kabbalistic "Pulsa DiNura" ceremony – in which participants call on the angel of death to take the subject of their wrath – against her. A group that calls itself "The Citizens Committee to Investigate COVID" even reached out to the attorney general to ask that he open a criminal investigation against Rahav and the Health Ministry, claiming that Rahav had misled the public about the Pfizer vaccine when she said it was safe.

In an interview to Israel Hayom, Rahav said that until last week, she had taken no action against the campaign of incitement.

"When the anti-vaxxers published pictures of an angry redheaded clown and hinted it was me, I laughed. When they posted a picture of Chucky, the murdering doll, and said it was me, I ignored it. When they compared me to Hitler, it hurt me, quietly. I'm the daughter of Holocaust survivors.

"Even when they opened Facebook pages against me and called me a 'murderer of children,' 'Satan,' and a 'psychopath,' I didn't respond. Even though they published my address and called for demonstrations outside my home, I refused the hospital's offer of a security detail.

"In the last few days, the incitement has shifted gears. I saw messages that said I should be burned, that I should be hanged, that I should be buried next to Hitler … I also see how they are convincing people not to be vaccinated, and thereby putting lives in danger. There are some that spread fake news and write that schools are vaccinating children for COVID without notifying anyone. That's a complete lie.

"A week ago I decided, enough. I filed a police complaint about threats and incitement. At the same time, I, with the Israeli Medical Association, intend to file a civil suit against the people inciting against me. We need to stop slandering and curing doctors for doing their work. Maybe if these anti-vaxxers have to pay compensation, they'll think twice before calling me a murderer or claiming that I'm taking bribes from Pfizer," Rahav says.

On the day that Israel's HMOs announced that some 13,000 children and youth had signed up to be vaccinated for COVID, Rahav, 66, was in the Jerusalem Theater at a Health Ministry ceremony honoring doctors. When she returned to her home in Beit Hakerem, she sat down at the dining room table and starting looking over the new Health Ministry numbers about people vaccinate for COVID who contracted heart muscle inflammation, the main reason for concern about vaccinating children.

"In Israel, there were 148 cases, or one out of every 6,000 people vaccinated," Rahav says, leafing through a stack of papers.

"The vast majority were mild cases, other than eight. They were most common among people ages 20-29, 44 men and seven women in that age group. There were 33 cases in people ages 16-19, 32 men and one girl. One young woman, age 22, died of the disease. After age 30, the numbers are very low," she says. "I agree that this is a phenomenon that cannot be ignored, and I think that it is linked somehow to the vaccine."

Q: Do you see the number of children signed up to be vaccinated as low?

"I expected a much lower response."

Q: if you had a 12-year-old kid, would you have him vaccinated?

"There is no COVID in Israel right now, so my answer is negative. I suggest waiting a bit. Vaccinate them if you want to travel abroad, if they're obese, if they're in a high-risk group or if there is someone immunosuppressed in the home. We could easily wait a month or two, because the US is currently vaccinating hundreds of thousands of children these ages, and we should wait to see what happens there."

Q: The protest against you stems from the assumption that you recommend vaccinating children, and how you're saying the opposite.

"The meeting of the Vaccination Committee about vaccinating children took place in February, and even though we were already far along with vaccinating adults, the numbers still hadn't dropped, and there were still over 9,000 new cases per day. Anyone who knows the world of infectious disease knows that for the most part, you can't overcome an epidemic without vaccinating children. I suggested at the meeting that we talk to Pfizer and do a case study on children in Israel, and not depend only on US research.

"The meeting protocol was published on the Health Ministry website, and then someone wrote, 'Galia Rahav wants to experiment on children.' Now go explain that I always text new medicines, because my goal is first and foremost to save my patients. It was a short path from there to me being compared to Mengele."

Q: Were you wrong to say what you did in that meeting?

"No, and I won't take back what I said. It was right at the time. My recommendation changes as the reality on the ground does. I'm not afraid to say that I was certain that if we didn't vaccinate the children, we wouldn't overcome the virus, but we succeeded without it. It seems as if they are infecting others less.

"The virus numbers today are completely different to what they were then, so now there's really no reason to run after the vaccine in a panic. We don't know everything about the virus, but it appears that a kind of herd immunity has been created in Israel. On the other hand, we've learned that it's unpredictable. If all sorts of dangerous variants enter Israel tomorrow, I'll recommend vaccinating children."

The unrestrained attack on the veteran doctor, considered Israel's leading expert on infectious disease and epidemics, is difficult to comprehend. It started four months ago, with her being compared to Cruella de Ville, and only grew worse.

Social media users wrote things like "She is Hitler's future neighbor in Hell" and "Galia, we're praying for the day God takes you, may it be soon."

Q: Were you surprised by the hate?

"I only saw what people showed me, because I'm very busy and I don't spend the day on social media. I preferred to focus on the people who defended me against the attackers. My daughter, Roni, was frightened. In March, she and my partner filed a complaint with the police. I didn't have the energy or the time to handle it."

Rahav was sure that the attacks would diminish with time, but the opposite happened. The closer the country came to the date when children would start being vaccinated, the more they increased. The week before last, the social media outrage became acts.

"Last Tuesday I organized a conference in Ramat Gan about COVID vaccinations for children and in general, as part of my role as chair of the Israeli Society for Infectious Diseases (ISID). About 150 doctors who are experts in infectious disease came, and about 150 more doctors from other fields were watching on Zoom, like general practitioners and pediatricians.

"In the middle of the conference, anti-vaxxers burst into the room. I have no idea how they knew we were there. They shouted and waved signs saying that Pfizer was funding us, and if we were willing to have our children be guinea pigs. They weren't violent, but the conference was stopped until the security guards got them out.

"My daughter was anxious because they stormed the conference and were right next to me, even though none of them tried to physically harm me. That was the moment I realized I need to file a complaint with the police, because the incitement and protests wouldn't stop on their own."

Q: Are the latest threats keeping you awake?

"I barely sleep anyway, because of work," Rahav laughs. "But it makes me angry because these people are putting the public in danger. Unlike them, I save people."

Q: Why did you refuse security?

"I don't want to be followed. No one has stopped me while I'm driving or thrown rocks at my house. It's enough that the security guards check in on me every hour."

Q: Why do they accuse you of taking bribes from Pfizer?

"Oh, come on. I've never taken a penny from Pfizer. The whole story about Pfizer has to do with a study I did years ago about fungal infections in bone marrow recipients. The drugs they were given caused serious side effects, so we tried a new drug that saved their lives. Pfizer funded that expensive study, and then bought the drug from the developer.

"Throughout the COVID pandemic, I took part in conferences and countless meetings, all on a volunteer basis. I neglected my private infectious disease clinic in the Malha Mall, where I take care of AIDS patients, organ transplant recipients, people who suffer from fibromyalgia and pregnant women who contract viruses that attack fetuses."

Q: It looks as if the anti-vaxxers have beaten the Health Ministry. All the restrictions put on them at the start have been lifted.

"They won?!?" Rahav thunders. "We won! The pandemic restrictions weren't lifted because of them [the anti-vaxxers], but thanks to the people who got vaccinated. The anti-vaxxers are parasites. They endanger themselves and their families. There were plenty of COVID patients who infected their parents, who then died. These are people who will carry the guilt of that for the rest of their lives."

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Rahav did her IDF service as a teacher, and in 1974 registered for medical school at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, where she was considered an outstanding student. She did a residency in internal medicine at Hadassah Ein Karem and Hadassah Mount Scopus hospitals. She then completed an additional residency in clinical microbiology, and began working on research. Along the way, she married her childhood sweetheart, and they had two children – Roni, 35, an OB-GYN resident at Meir Hospital in Kfar Saba, and Nir, a medical student at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem.

Until 2003, Rahav worked as a doctor in the Infectious Disease Department at Hadassah, until she moved to Sheba when then-director of the medical center, Professor Zeev Rotstein, offered her the directorship of the Infectious Diseases Research Laboratory.

"He tempted me by promising to set me up with a research lab," Rahav smiles. "Today, I have an HIV lab and clinics to prevent infectious disease and for travelers' health. I've done over 250 clinical studies here, and recently we found a way to fight aggressive bacteria in hospitals. When we finish, we'll send the formula to drug companies so they can produce antibiotics."

Rahav is in the process of opening a new lab. "Here, we'll work on all sorts of dangerous pathogens, like the COVID virus," she says, turning proudly to the futuristic sterile space. "You can't work on viruses like these in a regular lab, because you need special air conditioning and filters."

Rahav also serves as chair of the ISID, and teaches at Tel Aviv University's medical school. In February 2020, when Israelis who had been on the Diamond Princess "COVID cruise" returned, she was a member of the team that set up the first COVID unit in Israel, at Sheba. She was appointed to write the protocol for treating COVID patients, deciding on ways to prevent infection, and choosing the protective gear for hospital workers.

While working at a feverish pace, she also became a regular guest in the media, where she adopted a cautious approach, backing a lockdown when the numbers began to rise. On Independence Day 2020 she was selected to light a torch at the annual ceremony on Mount Herzl.

Q: How did you become known as someone who sows fear among the public?

"I've thought about that a lot. At first, I thought it was because I'm a woman. Look, both Professor Gabi Barabash and Professor Ran Balicer were considered conservative [in their approach to COVID]. After that, I realized that it was coming from somewhere else that had to do with a mistake I made when I agreed to appear on TV with Professor Yoram Lass.

"The segment was filmed in the hospital, after a difficult day. A few hours earlier, I'd been sitting with a young man who had COVID, who had infected his father, who died. People were begging me, in tears, to save their relatives. I saw the death and the helplessness, and I was very emotional.

"And then they brought in Professor Lass, who was smug and hadn't treated any COVID patients, and he said that it was 'just a flu.' I felt stupid. I was angry at myself for agreeing to meet. I talked about the dangers, about the fact that there was no effective treatment, that people were dying, and he acted as if it was all nothing. Maybe it was a show on his part. Most doctors who appeared in the TV studios hadn't treated COVID patients."

Q: Do you believe that COVID is behind us?

"In Israel, it looks that way, but in countries like England, Taiwan, and Nepal, there is a spike with the Indian variant. We should keep our finger on the pulse of things."

Q: Do you support the decision to make masks non-mandatory in closed spaces?

"I supported removing the mask mandate outside, but with closed spaces, we've been a little hasty. The Health Ministry asked my opinion, and I told them that I would keep the [indoor mask mandate] in place a little longer, even though plenty of people are already taking them off."

Rahav says that personally, she always wears a mask in crowded places, and will continue to do so in the near future, pointing out that thanks to masks, "We've reduced flu and other respiratory diseases."

Q: Will we need to be revaccinated when winter comes?

"As long as there is no change in the number of cases, I don't think we'll need to. We still don't know how long the existing vaccine is effective. In serological tests at Sheba we've discovered something amazing. The antibodies drop, but they turn out to be much more effective. As if they learn from the disease.

"I think that we'll have to revaccinate only people who have some kind of immune problem. Right now I'm finishing a large study in which we did serological testing of patients who received heart, kidney, liver, and bone marrow transplants, as well as leukemia, myeloma, and AIDS patients. The results were amazing. For example, only 18% of heart transplant patients developed antibodies – the drugs they take to suppress organ rejection suppress the development of antibodies. On the other hand, AIDS patients responded to the vaccine the same way the rest of the population did. I think that only the immunosuppressed will get a third dose."

Q: If a third dose is needed this winter, does Israel have enough?

"There are enough vaccines, but I haven't looked into whether the amount will suffice to vaccine the entire country a third time."

Q: As someone who is part of the Israel Institute of Biological Research's project to develop another vaccine, do you think it should still be funded, giving the success of the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines?

"I heard the criticism about continuing the project, and it's justified, to a certain point. The institute is just at the third stage of the trial, and it's hard to find volunteers because a lot of them left the study to get the Pfizer vaccine. On the other hand, the institute has done good work in developing a vaccine with no side effects. I assume that eventually, it will recoup the investment when the vaccines are sold in countries where the citizens haven't been vaccinated yet."

Next year, Rahav will be eligible to retire. "It's hard for me to even think about," she says. "I feel like I'm 40, and I still have so much to contribute. I'll leave the institute, but I'll stay on at Sheba as a travelers' doctor and will continue to run my private clinic.

"I'll probably fulfill a few dreams, like opening a clinic in the periphery that will bring people together through medicine. I'm also thinking of publishing a book I've been writing for the last few years about being the second generation of Holocaust survivor parents. I'll need some time off before I do that," she says. 

The post 'Anti-vaxxers are parasites' appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

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The Eichmann trial, which began on April 11 1961, changed immensely how the Israeli public dealt with the Holocaust. At the time there were hundreds of thousands of survivors in the country, who were suppressing memories and trauma. The discussions revealed wounds that didn't heal, the horrors, the physical and emotional hell they went through.

The personal stories of the survivors overshadowed the work of the police in the Eichmann affair. On the one hand there were the Bureau 06 investigators, who came across thousands of documents proving his guilt. On the other hand, was the "Iyar Unit", which protected the archvillain until the day he was hanged, on May 31, 1962.

The story of the Iyar Unit remained untold, even though its officers were close to Eichmann. They sat with him in the holding cell while he ate, when he slept, when he showered and when he wrote his memoirs. Some were by his side even when he underwent the psychiatric diagnosis, and heard the answers that showed his psychopathic nature and lies.

Throughout the period, the police documented Eichmann, and in the photos taken, the archvillain is seen cleaning the toilets in his cell, hanging laundry, brushing his teeth, being examined by a doctor or sitting on the iron bed in the cell, wearing slippers.

The documentation also appears in a new book slated to be released in a few weeks. Operation Iyar – The Activities of the Israel Police in the Eichmann Affair is, in fact, a second in-depth study by the police, after the first study into the work of Bureau 06, was published last year.

Both studies were written by Inspector Yossi Hemi, a historian and head of the Israel Police Heritage Center. For many months, Hemi searched the police archives and state archives and retrieved documents, correspondences, drawings and photographs documenting the behind-the-scenes of the trial, including the tight security arrangements, along with Eichmann's daily routine and interaction with his investigators.

"The current study presents the story of the Israel Police in the Eichmann case in all its aspects," says Hemi. "From the Iyar Unit, to carrying out the sentencing, together with the Prison Service. The role of the police went far beyond its area of responsibility, but few people know and appreciate what it did. I hope the two studies will reveal one of the most significant stories in the country's history and the history of the police in particular."

On May 23, 1960, Prime Minister David Ben-Gurion took to the Knesset podium in one of the most historic speeches in Israel. He announced that Adolf Eichmann, the architect of the Final Solution – the Nazi plan for the Jewish genocide –  had been captured in Argentina and brought to Israel two days earlier in a Mossad operation. Upon landing in Israel, Eichmann was taken into custody at the Israel Security Agency base in Jaffa. Ben-Gurion then tasked the Israel Police with his interrogation and security.

One of the first decisions of the then-Police Commissioner Yosef Nachmias was to turn the Jalama camp near Haifa (now the Kishon Prison) into a detention center intended for Eichmann alone. The place was named "Iyar Base", after the Hebrew month in which he was captured, and Commander Shaul Rosolio (later Israel's fifth police commissioner) was appointed commander of the base. He had only 48 hours to prepare for the transfer of Eichmann from the GSS, on May 26.

For Eichmann's security, dozens of police officers were recruited into Iyar, the special unit set up for the purpose of the operation. They all underwent a personal interview, in order to rule out a family connection to Holocaust survivors, which could have made it difficult for them to fulfill their role or endanger his life.

"I was asked if I knew what happened to the Jews during the war, if my parents suffered in the Holocaust, and if any of my relatives were in a concentration camp," says Sergeant Amram Lusky, who was interviewed before joining the unit, without knowing what it was all about. "Because of my last name, they thought I came from Europe. When I said I was a native of Morocco, they told me, 'Stay.'

"A big truck brought us to a security facility in Jaffa. We spent the whole night guessing, what was going on here. The next day, May 25, at noon, we arrived in Jalama. We found the base in a frenzy. They were evacuating all the detainees, knocking down walls, whitewashing other walls, changing the cell system and building a secure cell -- it was still not clear for whom."

At the same time, the police readied for the transfer of Eichmann from Jaffa. Leading the secure convoy was Commander Yehuda Guy, head of the Traffic and Patrol Branch. In a document he sent to the head of the Police Organization Division, Major General Aharon Sela, Guy outlines the complex operation:

"On May 25, 1960, I met with H. from the GSS. The purpose of the meeting was to determine the arrangements for receiving the detainee from them and transferring him to the Iyar Base. At this meeting, he also gave me details about the detainee, the fact that he is short-sighted, and that his glasses were broken during the journey from his place of arrest. It was decided to transfer the detainee on the evening of May 26, 1960, under the escort of three secure vehicles and manned by officers, who until the mission began knew nothing about the purpose of the trip.

"At 9:50 p.m., I left in car number 2, and met with H. in the yard of the Institute of Forensic Medicine in Abu Kabir. Together we drove to the GSS facility where the detainee was being held. I entered the detainee's cell and informed him that I had to move him to his new detention place. Even though I was in uniform, the detainee trembled all over. He barely calmed down, even after I reiterated that I was a police officer and that he had nothing to fear.

"Bound to the two officers of the Central Unit, I put the detainee in the back seat of my car, with H. driving after me, accompanied by security. Meanwhile, at 21:54, car number 1 and rearguard car number 3 left for the Jerusalem road, waiting about 200 meters from the entrance gate to Mikveh Israel. When I got in between the two aforementioned cars, we left for the Iyar Base, while H. returned to Tel Aviv. On the way out of Wadi Milk, I blindfolded the detainee, who again showed signs of fear. The commander of the Iyar Base received the detainee from us."

Around midnight, Eichmann was put in cell number 1, built especially for him, about 20 meters in size. A document sent to Rosolio from the head of the Police Organization Branch, classified as confidential, detailed the conditions required in the cell: "The detainee's cell will have a table and chair placed in it. Writing paper will be on the table. The sentry next to the detainee will have a pencil in his hands, and it will be handed over to the detainee for writing. Please plan a stroll for the detainee in the fenced yard outside the detainee's cell. A stroll to this yard will be made only after an order of the commander of Bureau 06.

"The interrogation room will be equipped with a table and two chairs, a recording device and a telephone. The door of the room will be open during the interrogation. The detainee will be able to smoke during the interrogation, as much as he wants, with the interrogator's consent."

Under constant watch

Guarding Eichmann was challenging. The fear was that he would try to escape, commit suicide in his cell or that someone would try to harm him. This is the reason why Force A numbered 37 policemen, who were near him 24 hours a day and were not armed. The detention cell and its surroundings were declared a sterile area. Only Border Police officers, who carried out the perimeter security, carried weapons.

Throughout the day, Eichmann stayed with a squad of four sentries. One sat across from him in the cell; The second, who carried the keys to the cell, stood outside the door and watched Eichmann and the policeman inside; The third was at a door in the hallway, and his job was to activate a field telephone and an alarm if needed; and the fourth patrolled near the main gates of the compound.

Eichmann was given a dark khaki prisoner uniform. The light in his room was on non-stop, even at night, and the police did not take their eyes off him – even when he was sleeping, showering or going to the bathroom. They were forbidden to start a conversation with him. When they brought him food, he thanked them in German with a "Danke schön." When instructed to do something, he replied with the German word Jawohl, meaning "yes, sir," as commanders in the Nazi army were answered.

In an internal document written by Commander David Ofer, who was appointed camp commander two months later, he reviews Eichmann's confinement conditions and daily routine.

"The detainee woke up between 5:30-6:00 in the morning. After waking up, he took a shower, then got dressed. The detainee was given clothes according to the weather, meaning light clothes in the summer, and in the winter warm underwear, woolen shirts, trousers, a windbreaker, and padded slippers. All this to keep him in good health ahead of the trial. "

When he shaved, he was provided an electric shaver, which was taken immediately after he finished. Once every two days, he washed his clothes and cleaned his cell and toilet.

At 6:45 a.m., breakfast was served to Eichmann by the shift officer, who was present until the end of the meal. Fearing poisoning, Eichmann ate from the policemen's food rations. In the morning he was given a dairy meal, which included two slices of bread, cheese, a hard-boiled egg, vegetable, and fruit. Afterward, he went for a half-hour walk in the courtyard, after which he was taken for questioning in the next room. This lasted between three and four hours. He sometimes met with his German defense attorney, Adv. Robert Servatius, who was hired by his family. Servatius became famous after defending Nazis at the Nuremberg trials.

At 12:30 Eichmann had lunch, which included a meat dish and a side of potatoes or rice. After that he stayed in his cell, read books in German and wrote a personal diary. At 17:30 he was provided with a dairy dinner, and around 9 p.m. he went to bed.

Officer Amram Lusky, who was a member of Force A, said: "When he eats, you sit next to him and watch. You do not give him a chance to do anything. Eichmann especially liked mayonnaise. On Passover, he asked, 'What is this thing that you give me to eat?' We told him these are matzah. He looked and ate."

Force A was tasked with ensuring that Eichmann underwent a daily health check by two regular doctors who served in the police, Dr. Zvi Wolstein and Dr. Brandstetter. Brandstetter examined Eichmann on August 3, 1960, and found that his condition was normal, except for slightly high blood pressure. "The prisoner is in good nutrition and general health," he wrote. "He's definitely capable of passing the tests that are still expected of him."

In January 1961, Bureau 06 received disconcerting information from Nazi hunter Simon Wiesenthal. The commander of the bureau, Avraham Zeliger, sent a letter to the police commissioner and the Mossad, in which he wrote: "Klaus, Eichmann's son, was planning to kidnap a Jewish figure for an exchange." Klaus was one of Eichmann's four sons; He and his two brothers, Horst and Dieter, admired their father and his work. The younger brother, Ricardo, renounced his father's actions and openly condemned them.

Between January and March 1961, Eichmann underwent a comprehensive psychiatric diagnosis in his cell by Dr. Shlomo Kulcsar, who was the director of the psychiatric ward at Tel Hashomer Hospital. In an opinion sent to Bureau 06, the psychiatrist states that he met with Eichmann seven times, with a clinical psychologist joining him in some of the sessions. Among other things, Dr. Kulcsar writes about his impression of Eichmann's attitude toward his family.

"During the clinical examination, the defendant barely showed any emotional reactions. When we talked repeatedly about his family and children, we did not see any reaction in him. Only twice did we see a hint of emotion, as we delved into sexual issues and as he recounted his experiences towards the end of the war and the killing of Germans in the bombings. Here he became bitter, despairing and depressed, and the grimacing in his face increased."

Eichmann told his life story to the psychiatrist. "According to his description, his father was the manager of a tram company in Linz, Austria, and he claimed he was a serious and meticulous man, who demanded order and did not tolerate any negligence. He watched the children closely, from their personal hygiene to the order in their notebooks. He forbade the children to talk at the table, and a slap in the face was easily released from his hands. The defendant was a bad student and skipped school frequently, and just barely 'slipped' from one class year to the next.

"During the conversations, he mentioned that while he was a high-ranking SS officer, a distant relative, a Jew, was once brought to him asking for help. He even kissed her and saved her, justifying it as the influence of his father's education, who compelled him to respect his relatives.

"As opposed to the memories about his father, the defendant does not give details about the mother. His only ancient memory of her is that one evening when he jumped on her back as she made his bed, and yelled 'Jump, girl.' In response, she slapped him. The mother died of tuberculosis. When asked what he felt after her death, he replied: 'Deep grief and shock,' without any emotion felt in words."

The psychiatrist added that Eichmann had five younger brothers, and after the mother's death his father remarried and gave him two more brothers.

In the conversations, Dr. Kulcsar asked Eichmann about his attitude toward Jews. "In the past, the defendant had no idea what a Jew was, and he visited the home of a Jewish boy several times, and was even invited to visit again. His mother had Jewish relatives, and the defendant even had a brief flirtation with a Jewish girl, who later married one of his friends."

Later, the psychiatrist mentions a dialogue between him and Eichmann:

"Have you ever felt remorse?"

Eichmann: "Yes. When I skipped school."

But the psychiatrist was talking about the extermination of the Jews. He went on to ask: "Did you at least feel responsible for your actions?"

Eichmann: "I was one of 30 officials in the field. To disobey orders meant to oppose society's laws. I am a person who lives solely in his position, no more."

The psychiatrist writes in his opinion: "During his life, he felt afraid, without knowing why. He could not go to places where he had to meet strangers, he had to know in advance who would be present. In such cases, his palms would sweat.

"In the party and the SS he gained self-confidence. It gave him a sense of belonging. The Reich was an ideal, about helping to establish a land for future German generations ... he canceled his first engagement for political reasons because his fiancée called the marching SS soldiers 'idiots.'"

One of the most shocking quotes in the report is from a test conducted by Dr. Kulcsar on Eichmann, called the "Szondi test" - an assessment of personality traits, based on the subject's response to images of mentally disturbed criminals. The psychiatrist sent the results to the founder of the method, Dr. Léopold Szondi, who lived in Switzerland and did not know who the subject was.

"Dr. Szondi told us he wanted to return the report because he normally does not accept tests under these conditions," Kulcsar writes. "But when he looked at the report anyway, he saw that it was a special case, unlike any he had ever seen before in the 6,000 tests he had performed in 24 years. According to his conclusion, the subject is a criminal with an insatiable lust for murder. He is able to carry out his murderous impulses out of lust for power and while transcending the boundaries of reality. "

Ben-Gurion decided that the hearings in the Eichmann trial would take place at Beit Ha'am in Jerusalem (today the Gerard Bachar Center), which was then under construction and converted into a court. The main hall was pre-designed for about 800 seats, and its relatively secluded location facilitated security.

In order to reduce the risk involved in transferring Eichmann to daily hearings, the police decided that he would stay in a detention cell to be built in Beit Ha'am. The construction work was entrusted to a police unit specially formulated for this purpose, and was called the "Judicial Administration." Major General Yekutiel Keren was appointed commander of the unit, and Rosolio was appointed his deputy. In an order issued by Rosolio, he detailed Eichmann's conditions in Beit Ha'am:

"Clothing: During incarceration – clothing that will be provided to him by the warehouse. During the hearings – his private suite, which will be kept outside the cell and handed to him before the hearings begin and will be taken from him after they are over.

"Bathing: The defendant will be allowed a hot shower once a day, handwashing before each meal. The soap, towel, toothpaste and brush will be placed near the bathing bowl. Before bathing, they will be handed to him, and immediately after will be taken from him.

"Shaving: The defendant will shave with a rechargeable electric shaver, without an electrical connection. He will be allowed to shave before bathing. The device battery must be recharged every day. The device must be taken when shaving is completed. While shaving, bathing, and toileting, observation will continue non-stop.

"Food: The defendant will receive his food from the rations intended for the members of the force. He will receive three meals a day during the meal times of the unit members. His meals will be put on his plate after being taken from the general quantity, by the shift officer, and brought to him personally by the same officer. He will receive only a spoon, made of metal or plastic. As soon as the food is finished, the dishes will be taken from him. Drinking water will be provided to him on request.

"Medical care: The defendant will be examined daily by a doctor. The test results will be recorded in a medical review book placed next to the shift officer. No medication will be given to the defendant without the doctor's instruction, and in the presence of the shift officer.

"Smoking: The defendant is allowed to smoke eight cigarettes a day. They should be given after meals and at his request.

"Reading: The defendant will be provided with books. He will be provided with eyeglasses, which will be taken from him after the reading.

"Special requests: Any request from the defendant will be directed to the shift officer. If necessary, it will be forwarded to the unit commander for approval.

"Cleaning: The defendant will clean his room and toilet himself. For this purpose, he will be provided with a bucket, rag, and a stick. Upon completion of the cleaning, they will be taken from him.

"Laundry: The defendant will wash his own clothes. He will be provided with soap for this purpose and a place to hang the laundry to dry.

"Furniture: The defendant will be provided with a bed without sharp elements, a mattress, and blankets as needed. A table and a small chair.

"Defendant's behavior: Do not enter into any conversation with him. The answers must be formal and brief."

On the night of April 4-5, 1961, Eichmann was transferred to Beit Ha'am. In the police car sitting next to him was policeman Amram Lusky and the shift commander of Force A, the late Inspector David Franco. "Eichmann was handcuffed to Franco on one side, and to me on the other," says Lusky. "In front sat the Major Generals, Yaakov Kenner and Amos Ben-Gurion, the prime minister's son. The instructions we received were simple: if something happens along the way, we are the first to cover Eichmann and shield him."

Eichmann's cell was located on the second floor, just above the courtroom. It had no yard, and the two barred windows faced an inner corridor. Every morning he was brought from there to the discussions, at around 8:30 p.m. Israel Nachmias, the policeman who guarded Eichmann in both the glass cell in the courtroom and the detention cell, says that the people who interviewed him did not know that despite his last name, his grandparents lived in Greece and were killed in Auschwitz.

"When Eichmann was in the cell, he read a lot of books and the minutes of the trial, which he put on the table in an orderly fashion. I remember one day, a policeman opened the window and the papers scattered. Eichmann was very angry."

In contrast, after the disturbing testimony of Ka-Tsetnik, on June 7, 1961, Eichmann was taken back to his cell. He sat down peacefully at the desk. "I entered it and was surprised," Franco told his family. "I saw the detainee busy with an optimistic drawing of flowers and butterflies. I got upset and asked how he dared to draw such a painting after testimony like that. Eichmann replied, 'I was just following orders.'"

On August 8, 1961, after four months of shocking testimony, the first phase of the trial ended. Eichmann was returned to the Iyar Base. The verdict, which was given over three days, was read on December 11, and the sentencing was read on December 15. Eichmann was sentenced to death.

After the hearing, he was returned to his cell at Beit Ha'am. "He was calm and sat down to read a book about whales," Lusky described.

Eichmann appealed the conviction, but his appeal was rejected. He then became a prisoner and was transferred to the Prison Service and housed in an isolated wing of Ramla Prison. On May 29, 1962, he asked President Yitzhak Ben-Zvi for a pardon, and two days later the president announced that the request had been denied.

From that moment on, the Prison Service declared the beginning of "Operation X" - preparing for the execution scheduled for June 1, just after midnight. The gallows had been erected already in February, next to Eichmann's cell. The crematorium, which was intended for the cremation of his body, was placed beyond the fence, on the site of what is now the Neve Tirza Prison.

In the evening, the guards broke the wall that separated him from the hanging room. Prison guard Avraham Merhavi led Eichmann, dressed in brown Prison Service clothes and wearing sandals with socks, to the gallows. Prison Service Commissioner Warden Avraham Nir was present; Bureau 06 Investigator, Chief Superintendent Mickey Goldman; Inspector David Franco; a physician, four journalists and four guards. The guards tied Eichmann's hands and feet. He refused to have his eyes covered.

"When the head of the Organization Branch announced that I would be one of the two police witnesses to be present at his execution, I felt satisfied," Goldman said. "Eichmann was put in the gallows cell, and on the right was a screen. We knew that behind him were two Prison Service officers; that there were two buttons there, and that when the order was given, they would press them.

"I was standing a meter from Eichmann. He was somewhat fuzzy. Before that he drank half a bottle of wine. When he stood under the gallows, he tried to hold on. Those who knew him knew that when he got upset - for example, when he had difficulty during the investigation answering something incriminating - his left little finger trembled. I looked at the little finger, and it was trembling.

"When he saw the journalists pulling out notebooks, Eichmann spoke. He said: 'Long live Germany, long live Argentina, long live Austria, these are the three countries I owe a lot to. In a while, we will all meet, as mortals do. I did what I was told. I followed orders.'

"I looked at him and felt nothing. There is no human revenge for what they did to us. Only God can take revenge. So one person was hanged. What is that compared to the rest, compared to my ten-year-old sister, who was murdered in Belzec with my parents.

"When the 'Act' command was given, Prison Service personnel pressed the buttons."

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Three minutes later, the doctor set the time of death: 11:58 p.m. Eichmann was left hanging for about an hour. At 1 a.m. on June 1, his body was taken down from the rope by six guards, wrapped in a sheet and blanket, and placed on a wheelbarrow. From there it was transported to the crematorium.

Chief Superintendent Mickey Goldman attended the cremation. "It was a black, foggy night," he said. "We walked along the lights near the fence towards the stove, where Eichmann's body would be brought. I looked at the lights and said to myself: 'Like in Auschwitz.' But this time it's not my Auschwitz, it's his Auschwitz.

"Then, they took out the ashes and put them in a tin. I was amazed to see how little ash remained from the human body. I remembered the mountains of ash in Auschwitz, and only then did I realize how many people were burned there.

"With this tin, containing Eichmann's ashes, I went to the port of Jaffa, with the Prison Service commissioner. We boarded the police ship, and it set off. When we reached six miles outside the borders of Israel, the commissioner opened the urn, and together with him we poured the ashes into the sea waves. I instinctively said at that moment: 'So may perish all your enemies, Israel.' Someone next to me said 'Amen'. From the wind some of the ashes entered my eyes. One of those present said that Eichmann continues to persecute the Jews even after his death and laughs."

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The blades of light have intercepted 150 arson balloons. The system's sensors identity targets, follow their motion, and shoot a focused laser at them until the balloons explode without having reached Israeli airspace.

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Israel's only Light Blade system to date covers only a small part of the Gaza Strip, and while it's interception rate stands at close to 100%, Palestinians in other parts of Gaza continue to send balloons carrying explosives, Molotov cocktails, and sometimes grenades over the border fence. The prevailing wind carries them into the western Negev.

IDF soldiers deployed near the border intercept some of the balloons, but most land, causing wildfires – sometimes, several dozen in a single day. The fires have burned tens of thousands of acres of open land, nature reserves, parks, and fields.

The Light Blade system, developed by the Israeli firm OptiDefense, the Israel Police, and the Defense Ministry, was first used this past February and scored dozens of interceptions.

Border Police Sgt. Maj. Meni Shalom, one of the Light Blade operators, said that "every interception is a relief."

"I'm frustrated when a balloon changes its location because of the wind and leaves our sector. The ramifications are painful. Civilians could be hurt. Even though it looks like a computer game, it takes patience, concentration, and coordination to operate the system. In a second, you could see 15 balloons in front of you at once, and in seconds you need to decide which of them could be the first to cross the fence," Shalom said.

Dr. Udi Ben-Ami, a laser expert and founder of OptiDefense, and Professor Amiel Ishaaya, Deputy Dean of the Engineering Faculty at Ben-Gurion University, came up with the idea for the laser interceptor.

"The idea arose from Zionism," the researchers say.

"It pained us to see the fields burning and to hear about the farmers' distress. We checked with friends in the defense establishment, and it turned out that there was no practical, quick solution available," they say.

While plenty of defense and security officials expressed doubt about the project, commander of the Border Police, Deputy Commissioner Kobi Shabtai, saw its potential.

"The advantage of Light Blade, unlike other similar systems in the world, is its special laser that does not interfere with airspace and does not bother pilots," Shabtai explained.

"The system was built over the course of eight months, and how it has proved itself above and beyond. We are operating it in conjunction with the IDF, and I hope that the defense establishment will soon purchase additional systems," Shabtai said.

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The post 'Light Blade' laser system intercepts nearly 100% of Hamas balloons in its sector appeared first on www.israelhayom.com.

The trial of Adolf Eichmann, who headed the Gestapo Department for Jewish Affairs known as IV B4, is an integral part of the consciousness of the Jewish people. One of the prevailing memories of the trial sessions in the Beit Ha'am community center in Jerusalem is the chilling testimonies of 121 Holocaust survivors.

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But the criminal trial could not only rely on the survivors, only a few of whom actually saw Eichmann in person. Their testimonies were needed to highlight the unfathomable cruelty of the Nazis and the terrors of the Holocaust.

The discussions on Criminal Case No. 40/61 were based on the work of 15 Israel Police detectives, who were part of a special unit, Bureau 06. Their working assumption was that this was a murder trial and thus they needed evidence to prove Eichmann's senior role in organizing and implementing the Final Solution.

The conditions for launching the investigation – which began 60 years ago when Eichmann was captured and brought to Israel on  May 21st, 1960 – were complicated. The war had ended 15 years earlier, the murder scenes spread across many states. The Bureau investigators hunted for documents that would speak for themselves and could not be refuted. Documents that could demonstrate Eichmann's infinite desire for the destruction of the Jewish people, and his key status in managing the transports to the death camps.

The investigators managed to get their hands on 400,000 pages of telegrams and letters from archives in Germany, Austria, Poland, Hungary, the Netherlands, Belgium, and France, as well as in the US too – which after the war collected tens of thousands of exchanges between the heads of the Nazi regime. 

Out of all of these, 1,506 documents were filed by the court as "smoking guns" against Eichmann. They show how he insisted on reaching every single Jew, how he tried to cover up the extermination by using the phrase "special treatment," how he fumed that in his opinion, there were too few Jews on the death trains. And how he personally ensured that children were also sent to Auschwitz.

The police files have never been published and were transferred to the National Archives at the end of the trial. Copies were also given to Yad Vashem - The World Holocaust Remembrance Center. Two years ago, Chief Inspector Dr. Yossi Hemi, a historian and the deputy head of the Israel Police Heritage Museum, took the materials: hundreds of boxes of brown files and yellowing paper. Hemi read through them anxiously and with dread, page by page, interrogation after interrogation.

Among the papers was a detailed diagram that Eichmann prepared by his own hand while he was readying for his trial. In them, he describes the structure of the Reich Defense Ministry and the chain of command in order to prove that he was just a cog in the system. The department he headed, the IV B4, is shown in the diagram as just one of many.

Hemi took all the evidence materials and turned them into a book and an exhibition on the police, which will be unveiled soon.

Adolf Eichmann joined the Nazi party in 1932 when he was 26 years old, and was accepted into the SS, the party's paramilitary and intelligence organization. Two years later, he joined the Jewish Department, which became known as IV B4 department of the Central Office for Security of the Reich. At first, he looked into forced migration of Jews out of Germany, and even visited Haifa in October 1937 as part of these efforts, but came to the conclusion that Jews should not be encouraged to migrate to Mandate Palestine as the establishment of a Jewish state was not in the interest of the Third Reich.

In 1939, Eichmann was appointed to head the Jewish Department, and two years later began to experiment with mass extermination using gas. On January 20th 1942, he attended the Wannsee Conference in the Berlin suburb. It was there that the plan to annihilate Europe's Jews was drawn up. Eichmann prepared the invitations for the various parties and prepared the records of the meeting.

In March 1942, the transports of Polish Jews to Auschwitz began, with tens of thousands killed in the gas chambers. Despite this, Eichmann did not give up on personally dealing with Selman Lipski, Moshe Bejman, David Cymermann and Abraham Itzkowicz from the Neuhof Ghetto in Poland.

One of the first documents in the investigation file is a telegram from April 17th, 1942 which shows how dedicated Eichmann was to the Final Solution. In the telegram, which was classified as secret and titled "Special Treatment of Jews", Eichmann writes to the head of the Gestapo in Ciechanow, Poland and says that under orders of the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, "the Special Treatment is to be carried out" on these four, without giving details of what that is precisely.

The explanation comes in another letter which he sends five weeks later, on May 23, when he again asks for "special treatment," this time for seven more Jews in the Ghetto: Szmerek Goldberg, Tasiemka Eliacz, Rafael Braun, Mendel Rubensztayn, Moszek Lewin, David Bryszkowski and David Zamiadyn. This time he explicitly writes that they "are to be hanged in the ghetto of Neuhof, in the presence of persons of their race. I request an implementation report."

These two letters, which proved Eichmann's direct involvement in the extermination and his unimaginable cruelty, were presented to him by Chief Inspector Avner Less, the only one of the investigators who was allowed to question him and whose mother tongue was German. 

The response of the Nazi criminal was rambling and unintelligible. "It can clearly be understood from reading – an instruction to the Ciechanow Gestapo post, which had presented a suitable proposal to the Central Office for Security of the Reich. This proposal was sent onwards, by order of the Reichsfuehrer SS and Head of the German police [Himmler – TA]. In this case, the IV B4 acted as was expected by all central agencies. An order was requested from higher up."

Less insisted on hearing what the "special treatment" was. "They were put to death," Eichmann responded, "but this issue, as I have already said – it was never in the hands of the IV B4 to give the orders to put them to death."

April and May of 1942 saw a turning point in the Nazi treatment of the Jews. It was no longer just Polish Jews; the first transports started to arrive from Holland, Belgium and mainly France. The Vichy puppet government, which ran France under the patronage of the Nazis, turned its Jewish citizens over to the Germans and helped send them to the extermination camps.

The Jews were put in the Drancy concentration camp, north of Paris. Documents found in the French government's archives show that the Vichy regime adhered to the Nazi narrative that the Jews were being transported to labor camps. On July 22nd 1942, the first deportation train from France left for Auschwitz, with 1,000 Parisian Jews on board.

But the Bureau 06 investigation uncovered previously unknown details. On July 14th, around 1900, Adolf Eichmann placed an angry call to Drancy following the cancellation of the first transport, which was supposed to go out the next day. The reason for the cancellation: It "only" had 150 Jews on it.

Eichmann spoke with Heinz Röthke, chief of the Department of Jewish Affairs in France. In his record, Röthke says he explained to Eichmann that he hadn't managed to find more Jews due to a lack of time, and that the transport was delayed because Eichmann told him he must have 1,000 Jews on the train "since it was a matter of prestige."

"[Eichmann says that]… nothing like this has happened to him before. It's very embarrassing," Röthke sums the main points of the call. "He didn't want to tell his superiors, to avoid embarrassing himself, and has to consider whether he wants to give up on France as a country that is marked for deportations. I asked him for this not to happen, and added that it wasn't our bureau's fault. I informed him that the rest of the trains would leave as planned."

Röthke didn't disappoint his boss. Over the following months, after July 22nd, he sent dozens of trains from Drancy to Auschwitz, packed with Jews.

Bureau 06 investigators understood that the memorandum they were holding showed Eichmann's evil motivation and his intent to carry out the Final Solution. Less showed him the document but Eichmann continued with his evasive answers. "The content shows that the matter with the Transport Ministry of the Reich managed through much effort to get three transports. The transport was inserted into the schedule of the German Reich trains, and here is the transport that was canceled. Did I say 'This has never happened to me?' It's possible I said that. It's possible, it's possible."

Police investigators found a telegram that Röthke sent to Eichmann on 14 August 1942, marked urgent and secret and "for immediate delivery". In the telegram, he updates that on train number 901/14 which left that day from Drancy there were also children on board for the first time. He does not indicate their age or how many.

"The train left Drancy for Auschwitz at 8:55, and onboard there were 1,000 Jews, including children for the first time," Röthke reports dryly. "The detainees are per the guidelines we received. The head of the transport was given two copies of the list."

Röthke did not send the urgent telegram for no reason. The investigation showed that on  July 10th, 1942 Eichmann was approached by Theodor Dannecker, Röthke's predecessor, who at the time was the commanding officer of the Final Solution in Bulgaria, Greece, and Yugoslavia. Dannecker wanted to ask his boss what the policy was on deporting children, since according to his calculations, 4,000 Jewish orphans would remain in France and the community facilities would not be able to take care of them all.

Eichmann noted the query and quickly implemented his monstrous policy. After Röthke's letter, children were included in every transport to Auschwitz. In Poland, by comparison, children were put on the transports from the start.

Less: "Do you still claim that the destination of these transports, meaning Auschwitz, was only given to you at the last minute?"

Eichmann continues with his lies: "Chief Inspector, sir, I had to, of course, find it out for myself where these transports were headed. This is where the head of the transport gets a list, that he must present in Auschwitz. It was all planned, therefore. It wasn't decided by IV B4 under its authority. Here we received a principled order or instruction from Himmler."

Less: "So what then is the role of Jewish Affairs Department?"

"Chief Inspector sir, IV B4 never received orders to kill. Never. It never dealt with this issue, it was only about transport, that is what it dealt with."

Eichmann's fervor for exterminating the Jews broke new records over time. The investigation team was surprised to find the evidence showed his obsessiveness more than anything else. At least five telegrams told the story of the French engineer Avraham Weiss, a radar expert, who even had a few patents to his name:

In a secret telegram that Rothke sent to Eichmann on 12 November 1942, he states the name of 41-year-old Weiss, a resident of Nice. It was later learned that Rothke dealt with this at the request of a German army general.

"The aforementioned Jew was sent from Nice to the Jewish camp in Drancy," wrote Rothke. "When he entered the camp a file with written material was handed over, which showed that Weiss, an engineer, invented a new light bulb with four electric wires that can be operated, and patented them. The documents show that the invention may be used."

"The Jew himself believes it can be used during wartime, in a blackout during an aerial attack, for night lighting of trains, hospitals, signal stations, planes and airfields, and so on. I am sending the written documents separately, today. I await an order, if indeed the invention is valuable I need to know whether to send Weiss to Bergen Belsen, or to keep holding him in Drancy?"

These were the days when the Nazis completed the occupation of France, and Rothke wanted to check if he could keep the engineer Weiss from the transport, and use him for military needs. On December 17th Eichmann wrote Rothke: "Seeing as how, after checking the documents that were sent, it seems that the Jew Weiss has already handed his invention over to the patent office of the Reich. There is no need to discuss further. I ask to include him according to the guidelines for Jews."

A transcript of a telephone call between the general and Eichmann reveals a heated exchange between the two. The general shouts at Eichman: "How dare you? I am a general in the Wehrmacht!" To which Eichmann responds: "And I am in the Obersturmbannführer of the SS [a rank parallel to Lieutenant Colonel – T.A.]."

The engineer Weiss was put on the next transport from Drancy, and on  January 20th,1943 arrived in Auschwitz. A few hours later he was murdered in the gas chambers.

In the first months of 1943, the Final Solution was at its peak. Hundreds of thousands of Jews from all over Europe were sent to the extermination camps in Poland – Auschwitz, Sobibor, Majdanek, Treblinka, Chełmno and Bełżec. At the same time, Soviet forces had overcome the German army in the battle of Stalingrad.

Eichmann was searching for where there were more Jews so that he could continue his killing spree. He looked towards Norway, where there were just 2,170 Jews. Transferring Jews to Poland from the Scandinavian country in northern Europe necessitated special logistics, including the use of ships.

On the evening of February 25th, 1943, Eichmann sent a secret telegram to the Secret State Police in Szczecin, a port city in northwest Poland, headlined: "Dispatching Jews from Norway." In bold letters, it is made clear that this was an urgent matter that must be brought immediately to the police chief. Eichmann stressed in the telegram that 160 Jews from Norway will arrive in Szczecin the following day on their way to Auschwitz.

"I ask to transfer these Jews to Berlin, through communication with the state police chief in Berlin, to a place where they will be grouped with one of the next dispatches of Jews to Auschwitz. The transfer will be carried out using a few special carriages which will join on to a regular train. I ask that the proper security be ensured. I request that these Jews be added to the transfer of Jews to Auschwitz planned for March 1st 1943."

This document was presented at Eichmann's trial and demonstrates his eagerness to exterminate every Jew, even if it means transferring them at high cost via the sea. According to this document, Eichmann checked the quotas, set the dates and specified what type of carriages they would be in. And thus managed to exterminate 765 people – one-third of Norway's Jews.

When Less presented him with the telegram, Eichmann insisted that he was only a transport officer. "I didn't have all the authorities, but only permission to supervise the evacuation efforts of the security police in different countries and to report on every case … I received the order, but not everyone I deported was put to death. It was never brought to my attention who was put to death and who wasn't … as head of the IV B4, I wasn't authorized for everything, only for my area of responsibility which was quite narrow and limited."

On the eve of the Second World War, around 140,000 Jews lived in the Netherlands, most of them in Amsterdam. Almost all of them were well-off financially and held key positions in the economy. After the Nazi occupation in May 1940, their position deteriorated and in 1941, they started to be sent to concentration camps in Germany.

In the summer of 1942, their deportation to extermination camps began. On June 26th, the first 2,000 Jews were sent from Holland to Sobibor, under the guise of employment by the police. The transports left daily.

One of the most important documents uncovered by Bureau 06 was a two-page telegram sent to Eichmann on May 10th, 1943 by Wilhelm Zoepf, Referat IV B4 of the Department of Jewish Affairs for the Nazi occupiers in the Netherlands. The telegram, titled "Filling the Trains to the East," Zoepf reveals his plight: "the Reich Main Security Office has set the transfer of 8,000 Jews for May. On the first train for this month, on May 4th, 1,200 Jews were sent for departure. From May 1st, 1,450 Jews were ready (old and sick Jews from the Vught area). 1,630 Jews are ready in Westerbork for the third train.

"By adding prisoners and a campaign of premium headhunters, the maximum possible number by the end of the month will be 1,500 more Jews in Westerbork. Thus the total number of Jews for deportation in May will be 5,780. We are therefore missing at least another 2,200 Jews [to fill the quota] for the monthly obligation. The presented number must, however, be obtained at any cost by some sort of operation by the last week of May."

Zoepf, the telegram shows, feared Eichmann's wrath. He suggested making up the numbers by searching for Jews in Amsterdam who had yet to be caught, and with Jews who weren't yet meant to be sent to Auschwitz as they were working in munitions.

When this telegram was shown to Eichmann during his interrogation, he again portrayed himself as one who simply obeyed orders. "Of course I had an order from the Reichsführer [Himmler - TA], who wanted the Reich's Transport Ministry to allow the largest number possible for shipping volume, one that would be cleared without delay and on time. If I was allotted eight trains for Holland, that means there were 8,000 for Holland. Now I read that on one train 1,200 were gotten rid of and on May 1st, 1,450 old and sick Jews. This, again, I don't understand. There are 2,200 more Jews missing. Well, they didn't get to it. I didn't ask for the numbers."

The story of Hungary's Jews is a painful example of Eichmann's determination. Throughout the war, Hungary was part of the Axis Powers, allies of Nazi Germany. In March 1944 Hungary asked to leave the pact, and turned to the Allies. In response, the German army invaded Hungary and occupied it. The Jews were marked with yellow stars, their possessions confiscated, and they were put into ghettos.

Since time was running out and losing the war seemed closer, Eichmann led the campaign for the quick annihilation of Hungary's Jews, with the help from those nicknamed in the Gestapo "the Eichmann Commando." He left his office in Berlin and traveled to Budapest to oversee the operation himself.

An urgent telegram dated April 24th, 1944, was sent to him by the Ambassador of Nazi Germany in Hungary, Edmund Veesenmayer. It describes the urgent preparations: "On 15 April the ghettoization began, and so far 150,000 thousand Jews are included. The operation will probably end next week, and according to estimates will eventually encompass 300,000 Jews.

"Next, the same type of work is planned for Transylvania, and other provinces near Romania. This is currently in the preparation stage. 250,000 - 300,000 more Jews must be included there. The planned destination is Auschwitz. Negotiations for transport have begun, and we are planning to begin them on May 15th by sending 8,000 Jews a day, mainly from the Carpathians. Afterward, and at the same time, the transports from the other ghettos will take place."

Between  May 15th and  July 7th, 1944 – a period of seven weeks – 147 trains containing 435,000 Jews were sent from Hungary to Auschwitz. The cramped journey took 3-4 days, while the sick and elderly died en route. Whoever was left was exterminated in gas chambers shortly after arrival at the camp.

On June 30th, 1944, at the peak of the transport operation, Veesenmayer updated Eichmann and proudly stated that he had finished transporting 340,620 Jews – a record number for one and a half months. Every day more than 10,000 Hungarian Jews were murdered in Auschwitz, in addition to the extermination of transports from other countries.

"On 29 June, all at once, a smaller operation began in the suburbs of Budapest, as a means of preparation," Veesenmayer continued to boast to Eichmann. "There are more special transports of 'diplomatic' Jews, educated and with many children, and professional workers."

During interrogation, Eichmann was asked about his personal involvement in Hungary, and he got tangled up with his answers: "As I said, I myself was there. I would not allow myself to ever dream that the difficulties in France and Holland, which are known from the files, and certainly Himmler and the head of the Security Police thought that in Hungary things would be even more difficult. That they [the difficulties – TA] would become enormous. I myself, Chief Inspector sir, as I traveled to Hungary, had nothing but worries in my head. I said in my heart, how should I do this, where should I start? Because there was no time to prepare, I didn't have any time to contact the authorities, to get any details."

Later on, Eichmann puts the blame on the heads of Budapest district. "I didn't have anything else to do, Chief Inspector sir. I needed to put the brakes on at times … the role I played and that my subordinates played in Hungary was in fact inactive. I never even saw one transport, I didn't have the authority to. The operation, I have to say, took place by itself."

Chief Inspector Less didn't give up and asked Eichmann again about his part, but the latter continued to deny: "My mission in Hungary was to assure the quick evacuation of all Jews to Auschwitz … The horrible discipline of the Hungarian Gendarmerie made my unit basically worthless. We only had to do routine things, like making connections with the authorities, who dealt with transport problems."

Less didn't give up: "And who oversaw the list of Jews who were deported to Auschwitz?"

Eichmann lied: "IVB4 didn't evacuate. The authority had to do that, meaning the independent authorities of the general government. In western Europe, the authority of the commander of the police security had to do it. In France – the French police, in Slovakia – the Slovakian authorities, in Romania – the Romanian authorities, and in Hungary – the Hungarian authorities."

Less: "Did you put together the transports?"

Eichmann: "Chief Inspector sir, of course. The transport schedule. The transports themselves were put together by the evacuating authority."

Up until  May 31st, 1961, the day Eichmann was executed by hanging, he continued to maintain that he was just a cog in a system that only dealt with transportation and followed rules of his commanders, with Himmler at the top. But documents retrieved by Bureau 06 show that Eichmann received from Himmler the Iron Cross, a German medal for acts of heroism. In a personal letter sent to him on  September 29th, 1944 it was noted that Eichmann earned this honor due to his excellent leadership over his "commando" in Hungary.

During his interrogation, Eichmann was shown the letter, and without blinking an eye he lied, saying the Iron Cross was given to him for the work he did for a hospital of the Wehrmacht.

Eichmann never admitted the real reason he got the medal, and never apologized for his crimes. 

Only once, in an interview he gave to a Dutch Nazi journalist named Willem Sassen in 1958, he boasted: "I didn't just follow orders. If I was that kind of person, I would have been an imbecile. I thought and wondered about the essence of the orders given to me. I was an idealist." 

This article, which was found by Bureau 06, was used as evidence against him.

Nine months of investigation, thousands of documents

From among those who took part in the Eichmann affair, from the Mossad agents who kidnapped him in Argentina, to the Holocaust survivors who testified in the trial, to the prosecutor, Gideon Hausner, and the judges, Moshe Landau, Benjamin Halevy, and Yitzhak Raveh - the role of Bureau 06, whose work helped in convicting the Nazi criminal, was pushed aside.

The unit began working on May 25th at the Al Jalame detention center (Kishon prison in northern Israel today), where Eichmann was held. It was given its name because it was a sort of sixth department in the police headquarters, and also since the name symbolized the number of the millions of Jews who perished in the Holocaust. Deputy Commissioner Avraham Zelinger was appointed head of the unit, after heading the Northern Command, and his deputy was Commander Efraim Hofstatter, who had previously been head of investigations for the Tel Aviv Police Force.

The bureau was made up of three branches: Branch 1, which oversaw the gathering of evidence and documents and had 14 investigators; Branch 2, which comprised solely of the investigator, Chief Inspector Avner Less; and Branch 3, which managed the archive material brought to the country, and was made up of typists, translators, and citizens who dealt with sorting and photography of the documents.

The investigators worked for nine months on gathering the material. Thousands of documents came from Europe, from the Yad Vashem archives and the late Nazi hunter, Tuviah Friedman. The investigators wanted to prove through legal means that Eichmann was not a cog in the system, but managed a well-oiled extermination mechanism and was an integral part in the circle of decision-makers.

Every day the investigators analyzed dozens of documents, and in the evening convened for a meeting called "the reading of psalms." Each investigator presented the evidence he found and Hofstatter decided what would go into the investigation file.

Eichmann's questioning began on May 29th, 1960. After he told his life story, he was confronted with the evidence. Every signature of his on a document, every order to deport Jews, every telegram that dealt with transports - became evidence against him. The interrogation was conducted in German, and the video recording was transcribed and printed, and was given to Eichmann to verify. Only afterward were they translated into Hebrew.

Chief Inspector Dr. Yossi Hemi has been completely invested in the Eichmann affair for four years. As a historian at the Israel Police Heritage Centre & Museum, in the Israel National Police Academy near the city of Beit Shemesh, Hemi has lectured extensively about Bureau 06 and the Eichmann interrogation. If he hadn't decided to dive into the evidence files, much of the material may have been kept in the state archives.

"My job is to teach the legacy of and conduct historical research into Israel Police," he says. "We found out that the largest investigation the police ever conducted had not yet been researched properly. At first, we thought a lecture would suffice, but the more we learned about the case, and the Sisyphean work of the investigators, the manuscripts of the Nazi criminal, the banality of evil that arose from the documents – we felt as if we were traveling through time.

"Out of the 400,000 pages, I read about half in the past four years. Two years ago, I understood that lectures would not be enough to tell the story of the Bureau, so the police decided to gather all the investigative material into a research book and to also have an exhibit. I chose specific countries, where the Holocaust was less told about, and not in Germany or Austria."

The book, titled Bureau 06: the Interrogation of Adolf Eichmann by Israel Police, was set to be published on Holocaust Remembrance Day, but was delayed due to the coronavirus pandemic. "Much can be learned from the authentic investigative materials on the Final Solution and the way the transports were managed," says Hemi. "We understood we had to tell the story of the Bureau, of the investigators through their work, and I got a lot of help from an investigator at the Bureau, Micky Goldman.

"The book is the first academic research work about them. It sheds a light on the role of Bureau 06 after so many years. It is doubtful if Eichmann's conviction would have been so decisive without the letters and telegrams found and analyzed by those investigators."

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