Meet Lt. Gen. Eran Kamin, one of the senior members of the Israel Police, who today is in a position that sounds like a kind of chopper - an attachment of the Israel Police and the Ministry of Homeland Security in the United States and Canada. The corona with the outbreak of the plague, and appeared quite a bit in TV studios.
Now let's jump back in time about a decade and a half - to the Haim Ramon affair and to Kamin's part in it.
We all remember Ramon's affair.
The Minister of Justice in the Olmert government was convicted of an indecent act on an officer he kissed without her consent.
But on the fringes of that affair was another affair, a sub-affair if you will, which dealt with wiretaps carried out by police investigators, headed by the same fireplace, then a lieutenant colonel.
The wiretaps at the time were in accordance with the law and a judge's order, but the problem was that the police and the prosecutor's office did not transfer the recording materials to Ramon's defense team, in violation of the law, which requires the transfer of all investigation materials.
Only by chance did Ramon's defense attorneys discover that wiretaps had not been transferred to them in the case, after the minister had already been convicted in court.
The case was investigated by then-State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss, who concluded that those responsible were negligent in their act of "actual negligence" and recommended considering personal action against four people involved - YAHA chief Miri Golan, Tel Aviv district attorney Ruth David, prosecutor Ariela Antler-Segalminud.
The ball was in the Ombudsman's decision and eventually Deputy Attorney General Mike Blass ruled that no action would be taken against those involved and that their promotion would not be harmed. Among other things, he was the acting head of the YAHA and the head of the police investigation division.
His nickname, by the way, was "The Terror of the Interrogees."
Eran Kamin, Photo: Oren Ben Hakon
Among other things, he was involved in the investigation of the major cases in Israel - the Israel Beiteinu case, the dormitory case, Moshe Ivgi, Yinon Magal, Silvan Shalom, the investigation file against senior Prime Minister Ari Haru (who has since become a state witness against Netanyahu) and Avriel Bar-Yosef, as well as cases Investigation against senior local authorities in Israel.
That stain from the deviation in the wiretapping procedures in the Haim Ramon case has disappeared.
The fireplace has embarked on a safe path of progress and do not be surprised if he is appointed superintendent in the future.
This story may seem small.
In total no documents were submitted for defense.
But let's wait a moment for the meaning.
Law enforcement agencies in every country hold tremendous power in their hands.
Think about it for a moment.
People can come into your home in the morning, get you out of bed, handcuff you and get you out of life in general.
They can listen to you.
They can hold you in custody.
But the greater the power, the greater the responsibility.
It cannot be that the person who disobeyed the investigation, who violated the rights of a suspect (even if he was eventually convicted), his promotion was not harmed and he does not pay a personal price for the default.
And the problem is not just with the police.
The prosecutor's office that accompanied the case was not harmed either and continued his professional career.
In recent years, we have been exposed to more and more acts and investigative exercises done to the interrogees in the Netanyahu affair, but no one is paying the price.
The court ruled that the hacking of Netanyahu's advisers' phones was done without approval, but no one paid a price for the act.
But it was not just the Netanyahu affair that raised problems.
About a week ago, the court acquitted a senior police officer who "only" slapped an ultra-Orthodox boy on the sidewalk and then also slapped him.
This decision sends a clear message to the police - you are allowed to exaggerate with the power given to you by the authority, and you will probably not pay a price in the event of a deviation.
Now the police spy affair is exploding inside us with NSO's Pegasus software.
When there is no fear for the researchers, when they know that even if they deviate from the boundaries of the decree nothing bad will happen to them, it is no wonder that they allow themselves to cross the red line and cross boundaries that must not be crossed.
The rights of suspects and interrogees are something that must be strictly observed.
The message to law enforcement must be clear - you have received tremendous power, you have to crack criminal and corruption cases, but there are procedures and there are rules - and if you deviate from them you will pay a heavy price.
Were we wrong?
Fixed!
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