While Israel fights the corona virus, civil wars by senior officials from the Enforcement and Supervision Unit paint a grim reality • Ministry of Health: "This will be clarified in court"
Ministry of Health
Photography:
Oren Ben Hakon
Two senior members of the Ministry of Health's Enforcement and Supervision Unit have been running a confrontation for about a year and a half, which in recent months has turned into a defamation lawsuit.
The lawsuit reveals a disturbing picture regarding the alleged conduct of the people in whose hands such important responsibilities are entrusted.
The defamation lawsuit, in the amount of NIS 200,000, was filed by the director of the Enforcement and Supervision Division at the Ministry of Health, Dr. Roni Berkowitz, against a veteran employee of the division. At the beginning of the Corona crisis, when the department was required to enforce crisis-related regulations, the employee, according to Dr. Berkowitz, refused to do his job for a long time, and during a meeting with police officials the defendant defamed the police and claimed their inability to do their job.
Even when he had already agreed to undergo training in order to join the Corona Restrictions Enforcement Team, after one meeting the police sent a letter to the Ministry of Health that they would not allow him to join the tour in light of his behavior and conduct which included slander towards the police.
According to the statement of claim and according to Dr. Berkowitz, the exceptional cases of the same employee began even before the eruption of the corona.
In the written defense filed by the employee, it was argued that this lawsuit is the culmination of the abuse from which he has been suffering at work for over a year and a half.
According to him, this began following the exposure of irregularities discovered by the defendant in the plaintiff's conduct.
As for the claim that he refused to work during the Corona period, he claimed that he was taken on forced leave as part of his abuse.
The Ministry of Health stated: "Dr. Roni Berkowitz is a valued employee who does his job faithfully, during the Corona period and in general.
The lawsuit in question will be clarified in court. "
