Convicted Shas MK to be Replaced by Ethiopian Rabbi

Convicted Shas MK to be Replaced by Ethiopian Rabbi
by Hillel Fendel

Shas MK Shlomo Benizri, sentenced to 1.5 years in prison and an 80,000-
shekel fine, will be replaced in the Knesset by Ethiopian Rabbi Mazor
Bahaina. The court ruled also that Benizri's crimes bore a "mark of
shame," thus banning him from serving in public office for the next
ten years.

In addition, Benizri's membership in the Knesset is automatically
suspended - though he has said he will resign only when he appeals the
verdict. He will be replaced in the Knesset by the next-in-line on
the Shas party list, heretofore nationally unknown Rabbi Mazor
Bahaina. If Benizri is successful in his appeal, he can return to the
Knesset in place of Bahaina.

Rabbi Bahaina Walked to Sudan
Contacted by Arutz-7, Rabbi Bahaina said he immigrated to Israel at
the age of 11 in 1982 (nine years before the weekend airlift of nearly
15,000 Ethiopian Jews to Israel in Operation Shlomo). "We walked from
Ethiopia to Sudan, and there we waited in camps until being brought to
Israel," he studied. Young Mazor studied in the Yeshivat HaDarom
yeshiva high school in Rehovot, then in a hareidi-religious yeshiva in
Bnei Brak, then in the Sephardic yeshiva Porat Yosef in Jerusalem.
Known as a Torah scholar, he ran many social-educational projects in
Jerusalem and Be'er Sheva. He now serves as the rabbi of the 10,000-
strong Ethiopian Jewish community in Be'er Sheva, and is a member of
the Be'er Sheva Municipal Council.

Asked where he stands on the matter of Shas Party membership in a
government coalition that is apparently negotiating the splitting up
and handover of Jerusalem, the future MK said, "Rabbi Ovadiah Yosef,
the light and Torah giant of the generation, clearly knows what is
going on, and as long as he says that they are not discussing
Jerusalem, then that is the truth..."

Benizri's Sentence
The Jerusalem District Court handed down the sentence to Benizri on
Sunday. The categorization of the crime as one bearing a "mark of
shame" had been the subject of much media speculation over the past
three weeks, ever since Benizri was convicted of accepting bribes from
a Jerusalem contractor. Benizri said he would not resign on his own,
but would rather await the court's final ruling.

The Prosecution had asked for a seven-year sentence, but did not
appear to be disappointed by the judgment. "The sentence expresses the
severity of Benizri's actions," a prosecution representative stated.
Benizri, who continues to protest his innocence, has said he will
appeal the verdict, and the beginning of his jail sentence has
therefore been postponed by at least 25 days.

Minister of Labor at the time of the alleged bribes, and a former
secular Jew and army veteran who later turned to religious Judaism, MK
Benizri was convicted of having shared information with personnel
contractor Moshe Sela about government decisions regarding foreign
worker quotas. In exchange, the court ruled that he received
payments, furniture, an air conditioning system, and donations to a
charity fund from Sela, who later turned State's witness.
.

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