State Comptroller, former Justice Micha Lindenstrauss, submitted his annual report to the Knesset Wednesday. Said to be the most comprehensive comptroller report yet, the massive volume detailed Lindenstrauss' alarming overview of Israel's law enforcement.
Both the state and the police, the comptroller writes, lack the ability to genuinely take on organized crime, and that while plans to amend this have been written up, they are taking far too long to implement.
The report recaps government decisions intended to give the police the means necessary to fight organized crime in Israel ,going back to 2003. It also detailed plans made to increase cooperation between the police, the Israel Tax Authority, the Israel Money Laundering Prohibition Authority and the Justice Ministry, which have yet to be implemented.
The report also cites past plans to create an organized crime task force, as well as a local witness protection program. The latter, said Lindenstrauss, is still in its very early stages, as the Witness Protection Act was passed only in late 2008.
Lindenstrauss found that while the police are doing their best to protect those willing to testify in racketeering cases, the department is unable to meet their needs. One of the things standing in the way of fighting organized crime, he added, is the department's own bureaucracy.
Police Commissioner Dudi Cohen commented on Lindenstrauss' findings, saying that the department's handling of organized crime was "well balanced." Nevertheless, he added that it was a complex matter and that "there is no one way to stop a crime organization… This is a process and one I see going into 2010 and 2011."
Internal Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said that he accepted the report's findings, adding that "there is a lot that needs to be done bout organized crime, both by the police and by other bodies, the likes of the State Prosecutor's Office and the Tax Authority."
Efrat Weiss contributed to this report