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UNCLAS TEL AVIV 001098 
 
C O R R E C T E D  C O P Y (CORRECTED ADDEE) 
 
DEPT FOR CA/VO/L/C; CA/VO/L/A; CA/FPP SARAH SEXTON; INR/TIPOFF; DS 
OFAC 
ROME FOR DHS/ICE 
 
CA/FPP: PLEASE PASS TO DOJ LISA HOLTYN AND BRUCE OHR 
SIPDIS 
 
E.O. 12958:N/A 
TAGS: CVIS SNAR CMGT KFRD KCOR KCRM KTIP PINR IS
SUBJECT: ISRAEL: A PROMISED LAND FOR ORGANIZED CRIME? 
 
Summary 
--------- 
 
¶1.  (SBU) Organized crime (OC) has longstanding roots in Israel, but 
in recent years there has been a sharp increase in the reach and 
impact of OC networks.  In seeking a competitive advantage in such 
lucrative trades as narcotics and prostitution, Israeli crime groups 
have demonstrated their ability and willingness to engage in violent 
attacks on each other with little regard for innocent bystanders. 
The Israeli National Police (INP) and the courts have engaged in a 
vigorous campaign against organized crime leaders, including the 
creation of a new specialized anti-OC unit, but they remain unable 
to cope with the full scope of the problem.  Organized crime in 
Israel now has global reach, with direct impact inside the United 
States.   Post is currently utilizing all available tools to deny 
Israeli OC figures access to the United States in order to prevent 
them from furthering their criminal activities on U.S. soil.  End 
Summary. 
 
Crime War Hits the Streets of Israel 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶2.  (SBU) In November 2008, Israeli crime boss Yaakov Alperon was 
assassinated in broad daylight in a gruesome attack on the streets 
of Tel Aviv, only about a mile away from the Embassy.  According to 
several media accounts, a motor scooter pulled up alongside 
Alperon's car and the rider attached a sophisticated explosive 
device with a remote detonator to the car door.  The bomb killed 
Alperon and his driver, and injured two innocent pedestrians.  The 
hit was the latest in a series of violent attacks and reprisals, and 
indicated a widening crime war in Israel. 
 
¶3.  In July 2008, a 31-year-old Israeli woman was killed by a stray 
bullet on the beach in Bat Yam in front of her husband and two 
children during a failed assassination attempt on noted crime figure 
Rami Amira.  In a feud between the Abutbul and Shirazi clans, crime 
boss Shalom "Charlie" Abutbul was shot by two gunmen in September 
2008, an attack that also wounded three bystanders.  In December 
2008, Charlie Abutbul's son-in-law, Nati Ohayon, was gunned down in 
his car in Netanya.  Before the fatal bombing of his car, Alperon 
himself had survived at least three previous attempts on his life 
before his assassination, and was engaged in an ongoing feud with 
the rival Abergil clan (although there are numerous suspects in 
Alperon's murder).  The day after Alperon's death, two members of 
the Abergil syndicate were sentenced for conspiring to kill 
Alperon's brother, Nissim, in May 2008. 
 
¶4.  (SBU) In response to rising concerns for public safety, former 
Prime Minister Olmert convened an emergency meeting of top law 
enforcement officials, cabinet members, and prosecutors in December 
¶2008.  He promised to add 1,000 officers to the INP and to allocate 
approximately NIS 340 million (USD 81 million) to improve the INP's 
technical capabilities.  In general, the rise in OC-related violence 
has led some public figures to call for emergency state powers to 
attack criminal organizations, and OC became a minor but important 
issue in the February 2009 Knesset elections. Former Labor Party MK 
Ephraim Sneh publicly decried criminal extortion in his campaign 
ads, only to have his car torched in apparent retaliation outside 
his home in Herzliya. 
 
Background 
------------ 
 
¶5.  (SBU) Organized criminal activity is not a new phenomenon in 
Israel, and major crime families are well known to the Israeli 
public (the Alperons even featured in a recent reality television 
program).  Five or six crime families have traditionally dominated 
OC in Israel, although the names and makeup of these syndicates have 
fluctuated in recent years.  The Abergil, Abutbul, Alperon, and 
Rosenstein organizations are among the most well known, but recent 
arrests and assassinations have created a power vacuum at the top. 
New names such as Mulner, Shirazi, Cohen and Domrani have moved 
quickly to fill the gap.  Other up-and-coming groups include the 
Harari, Ohana, and Kdoshim families.  There are also a number of 
rival families active in the underworld of Israel's Arab sector. 
 
¶6.  (SBU) Traditional OC activities in Israel include illegal 
neighborhood casinos, prostitution rings, extortion, and loan 
sharking, with each family controlling a different geographic 
region.  The Alperon family, for instance, dominates the Sharon 
region, while the Abutbul operation is based in the coastal city of 
Netanya.   The focus is largely on easy money guaranteed by the 
limited use of violence.  Criminal involvement in the recycling 
business, for example, has been well covered in the press.  OC 
 
families collect bottles illegally from municipal recycling bins and 
restaurants, return them at the collection centers claiming twice 
the actual numbers, and pocket the change for millions in profits. 
 
Not Your Grandfather's Mob 
--------------------------- 
 
¶7.  (SBU) Despite their notoriety, OC figures have generally been 
viewed as a nuisance to be handled by local police.  Law enforcement 
resources were directed to more existential security threats from 
terrorists and enemy states.  In recent years, however, the rules of 
the game have changed.  According to Yaakov Lappin of the Jerusalem 
Post, the old school of Israel OC is giving way to a new, more 
violent, breed of crime.  Lappin told conoffs that the new style of 
crime features knowledge of hi-tech explosives acquired from service 
in the Israeli Defense Forces, and a willingness to use 
indiscriminate violence, at least against rival gang leaders.  New 
OC business also includes technology-related crimes, such as stock 
market and credit card fraud, and operates on a global scale. 
 
¶8.  (SBU) As the reach of Israeli OC has grown, so have the stakes. 
Crime families are working further from home and exporting violence 
abroad.  Older gambling schemes have grown to include sprawling 
casino franchises in Eastern Europe.  The Abutbul family began its 
gambling business in Romania over a decade ago, and now owns the 
Europe-wide Casino Royale network.  In 2002, Israeli OC turf wars 
spilled into Europe when Yaakov Abergil and Felix Abutbul were 
killed two months apart.  Abutbul was gunned down in front of his 
casino in Prague in a show of force by the Abergils as they 
attempted to capture a portion of the European gambling market. 
 
¶9.  (SBU) Israeli OC now plays a significant role in the global drug 
trade, providing both a local consumer market and an important 
transit point to Europe and the United States.  In 2004, Zeev 
Rosenstein was arrested in Israel for possession of 700,000 ecstasy 
tablets in his New York apartment, destined for distribution in the 
U.S. market.  He was ultimately extradited to the United States in 
2006, where he is currently serving a 12-year prison sentence.  Two 
other crime figures, Meir Abergil and Israel Ozifa, are also facing 
U.S. extradition charges on charges that include smuggling 100,000 
ecstasy tablets into the United States. 
 
¶10.  (SBU) The prostitution business has also grown beyond the 
neighborhood brothel.  In March 2009, the INP arrested twelve 
suspects in what is believed to be the largest Israeli-led human 
trafficking network unearthed to date.  Ring leader Rami Saban and 
his associates were charged with smuggling thousands of women from 
the former Soviet Union and forcing them to work as prostitutes in 
Israel, Cyprus, Belgium, and Great Britain.  Some women were flown 
to Egypt and smuggled across the Sinai border by Bedouins. 
 
Law Enforcement Steps up the Pressure 
------------------------------------- 
 
¶11.  (SBU) After years of perceived inaction, in 2008 the INP 
created a new unit called Lahav 433.  The elite unit operates under 
the direct command of the police commissioner, and is charged 
specifically with infiltrating and eliminating Israel's major crime 
syndicates.  Lahav 433 also cooperates closely with district 
investigative units to combat smaller criminal organizations, many 
of which are aligned with the larger crime families. 
 
¶12.  (SBU) Following Alperon's assassination, the INP initiated a 
series of raids that led to the arrests of a number of leading crime 
figures.  Among their targets were Aviv and Adam Abutbul, sons of 
crime-family head Charlie Abutbul, both charged with possession of 
illegal weapons.  (A third brother, Francois, is already facing 
murder charges for a nightclub killing in 2004.)  Police also 
arrested gangland figure Amir Mulner for weapons possession and 
conspiracy to commit a crime.  Mulner is known to be an explosives 
expert by army training, and is a suspect in Yaakov Alperon's 
murder.  He is also believed to be managing affairs for Rosenstein 
while the latter serves his sentence in the United States. 
 
¶13.  (SBU) Yaakov Alperon's brother Nissim was arrested with 18 
others in December 2008, in what was reported to be a "mafia 
meeting" in a Tel Aviv-area caf.  According to the Jerusalem Post, 
the group may have been planning a revenge attack for his brother's 
recent assassination.  Alperon's son Dror, recently dismissed from 
his army service for disorderly behavior, also faces several counts 
of assault and was convicted on extortion charges.  Also in 
December, police in Netanya launched several raids on illegal 
gambling houses and the homes of suspected money launderers with 
ties to the crime families.  In Ashdod, brothers Roni and David 
Harari were arrested on charges of extortion.  Regional police stuck 
a blow against the Jerusalem Gang, and convicted its leader Itzik 
Bar Muha. 
 
Skepticism Hovers Over GOI Efforts 
---------------------------------- 
 
¶14.  (SBU) Journalist Yuval Goren of Ha'aretz told conoffs that 
"thousands of foot soldiers" remain active on the streets despite 
these aggressive anti-OC operations.  He noted that approximately 
2,000 people attended Alperon's very public funeral.  Goren 
expressed skepticism that recent arrests will bear fruit in the long 
term without a sustained commitment to enforcement.  He noted that 
many of the crime leaders remain active while in prison and their 
operations are not hampered significantly even when they are 
convicted and jailed. 
 
¶15.  (SBU) In December 2008, former Prime Minister Olmert himself 
admitted that efforts to combat OC have long been diluted among 
different agencies, and that INP technology lags far behind that 
allocated to security services for counterterrorism.  Given the 
recent change in government and the current economic crisis, there 
is public skepticism as to whether GOI promises to remedy the 
situation will be fulfilled.  In 2003, following a failed 
assassination attempt on Rosenstein, then Prime Minister Ariel 
Sharon made similar promises to commit manpower and resources to 
combating the problem. 
 
¶16.  (SBU) It is not entirely clear to what extent OC elements have 
penetrated the Israeli establishment and corrupted public officials. 
 The INP insists that such instances are rare, despite the 
occasional revelation of crooked police officers in the press. 
Nevertheless, there have been several dramatic revelations in recent 
years that indicate a growing problem.  In 2004, former government 
minister Gonen Segev was arrested for trying to smuggle thousands of 
ecstasy pills into Israel, a case that produced considerable 
circumstantial evidence of his involvement in OC.  The election of 
Inbal Gavrieli to the Knesset in 2003 as a member of Likud raised 
concerns about OC influence in the party's Central Committee. 
Gavrieli is the daughter of a suspected crime boss, and she 
attempted to use her parliamentary immunity to block investigations 
into her father's business.  (Gavrieli is no longer a member of the 
Knesset.)  Just last month, Israeli politicos and OC figures came 
together for the funeral of Likud party activist Shlomi Oz, who 
served time in prison in the 1990s for extortion on behalf of the 
Alperon family.  Among those in attendance was Omri Sharon, son of 
former Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, who was himself convicted in 
2006 on illegal fundraising charges unrelated to OC. 
 
Courts Testing New Powers 
-------------------------- 
 
¶17.  (SBU) In 2003, the GOI passed anti-OC legislation that carries 
a maximum sentence of 10 years imprisonment for heading a criminal 
organization and three years for working in such an organization. 
The law defines such a body as a group of people working in an 
"organized, methodical and ongoing pattern to commit offenses that 
are defined by the laws of Israel as crimes."  The law also allows 
for property forfeiture, both in the wake of conviction and in cases 
where it is proven to belong to a criminal organization. 
 
¶18.  (SBU) Until recently, said Lappin, judges and lawyers have been 
slow to make use of this authority, and are hampered by a lack of 
resources, insufficient understanding of the tools at their 
disposal, and reticence to mete out tough sentences.  A witness 
protection program for those who testify against OC is just now 
getting off the ground, and is not backed by any specific 
legislation.  Nevertheless, on March 16th, a Tel Aviv district court 
took the important step of sentencing 14 convicted criminals 
belonging to two mob organizations in Ramle and Jaffa to up to 27 
years in prison. 
 
¶19.  (SBU) Increased efforts by Israeli authorities to combat OC 
have engendered retaliatory threats of violence.  Recent press 
reports indicate that as many as 10 Israeli judges are currently 
receiving 24-hour protection by the police against the threat of 
violence from members of crime organizations.  Israeli OC appears to 
be intent on intimidating judges personally, as a way of influencing 
the legal process.  Judges in Tel Aviv, Jerusalem, and Haifa have 
been assigned police protection, underscoring the depth of the 
problem. 
 
Israeli Crime Reaches American Shores 
-------------------------------------- 
 
¶20.  (SBU) Israel's multi-ethnic population provides a deep well of 
opportunity for Israeli OC to expand into new territory.  Most 
Israeli crime families trace their roots to North Africa or Eastern 
Europe, and many of their Israeli operatives hold foreign passports 
allowing them to move freely in European countries, most of which 
participate in the visa waiver program with the United States. 
Approximately one million Russians moved to Israel following the 
dissolution of the Soviet Union, and Russian citizens no longer 
require visas to enter Israel.  Many Russian oligarchs of Jewish 
origin and Jewish members of OC groups have received Israeli 
citizenship, or at least maintain residences in the country.  Little 
is known about the full extent of Russian criminal activity in 
Israel, but sources in the police estimate that Russian OC has 
laundered as much as USD 10 billion through Israeli holdings.  While 
most Israeli OC families are native-born and the stereotype that 
Russian immigrants tend to be mobsters is greatly overblown, 
indigenous OC groups routinely employ "muscle" from the former 
Soviet Union. 
 
¶21.  (SBU) The profit motive serves as a great unifier among 
Israel's diverse demographic groups.  According to Goren, some 
Amsterdam-based Hasidic groups allegedly are implicated in 
international drug smuggling through links to Israeli OC.  Arab and 
Jewish Israeli criminals routinely cooperate and form alliances to 
expand control of lucrative drug, car theft and extortion rackets. 
Even hostile and closed borders pose few obstacles to OC groups. 
According to the INP, 43% of intercepted heroin in 2008 was smuggled 
from Lebanon, 37% from Jordan, and 12% from Egypt. 
 
Israeli OC Operating Freely in United States 
--------------------------------------------- 
 
¶22.  (SBU) Given the volume of travel and trade between the United 
States and Israel, it is not surprising that Israeli OC has also 
gained a foothold in America.  Over the last decade, media reports 
have detailed a number of high-profile cases involving Israeli OC, 
ranging from large-scale drug deals to murder.  The ongoing Central 
District of California grand jury investigation against the Abergil 
family, where a RICO conspiracy case was initiated in December 2007, 
best demonstrates the full extent of such criminal activity. 
Investigators have linked Yitzhak Abergil and his entire network to 
crimes of "embezzlement, extortion, kidnapping, and money 
laundering."  Yitzhak Abergil is currently under arrest in Israel 
and facing extradition for related charges linking him to the murder 
of Israeli drug dealer Samy Attias on U.S. soil. 
 
¶23.  (SBU) As part of an ongoing effort to track Israeli OC through 
media reports and police sources, Post so far has identified 16 
families and 78 related individuals who are at the center of Israeli 
organized criminal activity.  The consular section has revoked 
several visas for those who have been convicted of crimes in Israel, 
but many OC figures have no prior criminal convictions and carry no 
visa ineligibilities.  As a result, many hold valid nonimmigrant 
visas to the United States and have traveled freely or attempted to 
travel for a variety of purposes. 
 
¶24.  (SBU) In March 2009, Post received information from law 
enforcement authorities that convicted criminal and member of the 
Abergil organization, Mordechai Yair Hasin, along with his pregnant 
wife and child, was intending to flee Israel for Los Angeles on 
valid tourist visas.  Hasin's visa was revoked based on his 
conviction, as were his family's visas after they were determined to 
be intending immigrants. 
 
¶25.  (SBU) As in the Hasin case, Post is using every available tool 
to limit OC travel to the United States, but such efforts are not 
always successful.  In June 2008, Post issued Adam Abitbul a valid 
tourist visa.  Abitbul had no prior criminal convictions, and 
carried no visa ineligibilities.  Several months later, Post 
received information from the Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) 
that he had traveled to the United States to carry out a hit. 
Abitbul returned to Israel prematurely for his father's funeral, at 
which time Post revoked his visa. (Post can only revoke the visas of 
Israeli citizens while in country.)  In a similar case, in October 
2008 Post issued Moshe Bar Muha a tourist visa; he claimed to be 
traveling for medical treatment.  Post subsequently received 
information from the LAPD that Bar Muha is in fact the brother of 
Itzik Bar Muha of the Jerusalem Gang (see above) and a convicted 
criminal. 
 
¶26.  (SBU) As recently as March 2009, Zvika Ben Shabat, Yaacov 
Avitan, and Tzuri Rokah requested visas to attend a 
"security-related convention" in Las Vegas.  According to local 
media reports, all three had involvement with OC.   Post asked the 
applicants to provide police reports for any criminal records in 
Israel, but without such evidence there is no immediate 
ineligibility for links to OC.  Luckily, all three have so far 
failed to return for continued adjudication of their applications. 
Nevertheless, it is fair to assume that many known OC figures hold 
valid tourist visas to the United States and travel freely. 
 
Comment:  Israeli OC Slipping Through the Consular Cracks 
--------------------------------------------- --------- 
 
¶27.  (SBU) Given the growing reach and lethal methods of Israeli OC, 
blocking the travel of known OC figures to the United States is a 
matter of great concern to Post.  Through collaboration with Israeli 
and U.S. law enforcement authorities, Post has developed an 
extensive database and placed lookouts for OC figures and their foot 
soldiers.   Nevertheless, the above visa cases demonstrate the 
challenges that have arisen since the termination of the Visas Shark 
in September 2008.  Unlike OC groups from the former Soviet Union, 
Italy, China, and Central America, application of INA 
212(a)(3)(A)(ii) against Israeli OC is not specifically authorized 
per Foreign Affairs Manual 40.31 N5.3.  As such, Israelis who are 
known to work for or belong to OC families are not automatically 
ineligible for travel to the United States. 
 
CUNNINGHAM