Shlomo Benizri: Difference between revisions

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| caption = Shlomo Benizri in 19971996

'''Shlomo Benizri''' ({{lang-he|שלמה בניזרי}}; born 7 February 1961) is an [[Israel]]iIsraeli politician and member of the [[Shas]] party. He represented Shas in the Knesset between 1992 and 2008, serving as Deputy Health Minister, [[Health Minister of Israel|Minister of Health]], and [[Welfare and Social Services Minister of Israel|Labor and Social Welfare Minister]] during the late 1990s and early 2000s. He was later convicted for accepting bribes, breach of trust, conspiring to commit a crime, and obstruction of justice, and served a prison sentence.<ref name="Haaretz1111613"/>

Although he retained his seat, on 29 March 2006, the day following the elections, he was charged by the State Prosecutor's Office with accepting bribes and breaching the public trust. The decision to indict Benizri after the elections was a conscious decision on the part of the Israeli [[attorney general]] [[Menachem Mazuz]]. On 1 April 2008, Benizri was convicted of accepting bribes, breach of faith, obstructing justice, and conspiracy to commit a crime for accepting favors worth millions of shekels from his friend, [[general contractor|contractor]] Moshe Sela, in exchange for inside information regarding foreign workers scheduled to arrive in Israel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|archive-url=https://archive.istoday/20120526101738/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184914505&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull|url-status=dead|archive-date=2012-05-26|title=Benizri jail term increased to 4 years term|author=Izenberg, Dan|date=2008-06-24|accessdate=2008-06-24|work=[[The Jerusalem Post]]}}</ref> On 27 April 2008, a district court sentenced him to 18 months in jail and decided that his actions qualified as moral turpitude.<ref name="sentence">{{Cite news|url=http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3536430,00.html|title=Court sentences Shas MK Benizri to 18-month term|author=Zino, Aviram|date=2008-04-28|accessdate=2008-04-28|work=[[Ynetnews]]}}</ref><ref name="sentence-heb">{{Cite news|work=[[Ynet]]|date=2008-04-08|accessdate=2008-04-08|url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3536597,00.html|title=Benizri Will Go to Prison, Without "He is Innocent" Song|author=Sela, Neta|language=he}}</ref>

Benizi resigned from the Knesset the same day and was replaced by [[Mazor Bahaina]]. Both Benizri and the state appealed. On 24 June 2009, the [[Supreme Court of Israel|Supreme Court]] upheld the decision and prolonged Benizri's jail time to 4 years.<ref>{{cite webnews| url=http://www.ynet.co.il/articles/0,7340,L-3736114,00.html| title= Benizri's punishment extended: Will serve 4 years in prison| work=Ynetnews| date=2009-06-24 | language= Hebrew| accessdate=2012-01-12 | last1= גליקמן| first1= אביעד}}</ref> Shas MK [[Nissim Ze'ev]] declared after the sentencing: “He is a victim of the system that allows his fate to be decided by elitist judges, who care about his sector and his race and not the good deeds he performs. I have no doubt that an American jury would have treated him better. That's why we need a jury of our peers”.<ref>{{cite web |url=http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921969&pagename=JPost%2FJPArticle%2FShowFull |archive-url=https://archive.istoday/20120709100434/http://fr.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?cid=1245184921969&pagename=JPost/JPArticle/ShowFull |url-status=dead |archive-date=2012-07-09 |title=Shas backs Benizri, Kadima distances itself from Hirchson |author1=Hoffman, Gil |author2=Stoil, Rebecca Anna |name-list-style=amp |date=2009-06-25 |work=The Jerusalem Post |accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> Benizri's brother, Rabbi David Benizri claimed that “a conspiracy of top-ranking homosexuals was behind the Supreme Court's decision to aggravate the sentence”.<ref>{{cite webnews|url = http://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-3736322,00.html | title = Benizri's brother: Gay elite behind harsh sentence |author =Edelson, Daniel |date =2009-06-24| work=YNetnews| accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> Benizri began serving his sentence on September 1, 2009, in the religious division of [[Maasiyahu Prison|Maasiyahu prison]] in [[Ramle]].<ref name="Haaretz1111613">{{cite web| url=http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/1111613.html| date=2009-09-01| title=Rivlin on Hirchson, Benizri: This is a sad day for the Knesset| author=Ettinger, Yair, Lis, Jonathan and Azoulay, Yuval | work=Haaretz| accessdate=2012-01-12 }}</ref> His cellmate from December 7, 2011, to his release was former president [[Moshe Katsav]].

In January 2012, a parole board reduced his sentence by 16 months due to good behavior. On March 1, 2012, Benizri was released early; he was one of 600 other prisoners whose sentences were commuted to ease overcrowding in Israeli prisons.<ref>[http://www.haaretz.com/news/national/former-shas-minister-benizri-released-from-prison-1.415761 Former Shas minister Benizri released from prison] Haaretz, 1 March 2012</ref> As soon as he was released, he resumed delivering his ''[[shiurim]]''.<ref>{{Cite newspapernews|date=April 26, 2018|script-title=he:סלחתי, כדבריך |newspaper=[[Mishpacha]]|language=he|issue=1354|pages=14–15}}</ref>

In 1998, Benizri called for [[Dana International]] to be disqualified from the [[Eurovision Song Contest]], which she went on to win. He stated, "The Eurovision Song Contest interests me about as much as the weather in Antarctica, but as a son of the Jewish people, it [Dana International's transsexuality] offends me",<ref name="dana">{{cite web |url url= http://www.jewcy.com/post/what_eurovision_teaches_us_about_israel |title title=What Eurovision Teaches Us About Israel | author = Shinefield, Mordechai |date date=2008-06-10 | work=Jewcy.com | accessdate=2012-01-12 | archive-date=2010-10-01 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20101001142757/http://www.jewcy.com/post/what_eurovision_teaches_us_about_israel | url-status=dead }}</ref> and "Undergoing a sex change is worse than an act of sodomy ... choosing her is sending a message of darkness to the world."<ref>{{cite news |title=Eurovision: Transsexual singer stirs up passions |url=http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/special_report/1998/05/98/eurovision/90279.stm |accessdate=20 May 2019 |work=BBC News |date=10 May 1998}}</ref>

In 2001, he was accused of [[racism]] after he said, "I just don't understand why a restaurant needs a slant-eye to serve me my meal."<ref>{{cite news|last=Derfner |first=Larry |title=They serve, suffer and still root for us |date=2002-07-11 |work=The Jerusalem Post |url=http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1025787760816 |archive-url=https://archive.istoday/20030426020943/http://www.jpost.com/servlet/Satellite?pagename=JPost/A/JPArticle/Full&cid=1025787760816 |url-status=dead |archive-date=2003-04-26 |accessdate=2012-01-13 }}</ref>

In 2004, during "[[The Passion of the Christ]]" controversy, when several Shas members wanted to have the film banned in Israel for [[anti-Semitism|antisemitism]], Benizri disagreed, and said that, "the Jews did kill Jesus", reportedly elaborating that Jesus was put to death according to [[Sanhedrin]] tradition: "They [the Jews] took him [Jesus] up to a high roof, and threw him crashing to the ground. Afterwards, they hung his body on wooden beams in the shape of a 'T', but not, as the Christian legends say, that he was crucified. That's nonsense." Benizri also claims that Jesus' death was an internal Jewish affair. "What is there to deny? We're talking about a yeshiva student who left Judaism, and the Sanhedrin put him to death."<ref>{{cite web |url=http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/AntiSemi/3360.htm |work=[[israelinsider]] |title=Anti-Semitism: One Shas MK says ban "Passion", another says "Jews did kill Jesus" |accessdate=2008-06-30 |date=2004-02-26 |author=Shuman, Ellis |url-status=dead |archiveurl=https://web.archive.org/web/20080305005029/http://web.israelinsider.com/Articles/AntiSemi/3360.htm |archivedate=2008-03-05 }}</ref>

[[Category:Israeli Orthodox Jewsrabbis]]

[[Category:Ministers of Healthhealth of Israel]]