US EditionIsraeli security service chief’s brother is accused of smuggling cigarettes into Gaza
Bezalel Zini faces aiding-the-enemy charges in a probe into cigarette smuggling that funds Hamas, with 13 suspects facing indictments in Ashkelon courts.
- On Tuesday, police filed a prosecutorial declaration against Bezalel Zini, arrested last month, and an indictment is expected on Thursday.
- High retail values inside Gaza mean cigarettes, sometimes worth 269,000 shekels, incentivize smuggling, while defense officials say the trade funds Hamas's military and salaries.
- The Desert Reconnaissance Battalion case shows 4,496 packs fetched 269,000 shekels, with each pack around 60 shekels, highlighting the trade's scale.
- Shin Bet now leads smuggling probes as national-security offenses, and senior IDF officials urge zero tolerance, calling it 'a clear act of treason in every sense.'
- Zini, arrested last month, remains in custody at least until Thursday as the court lifted the gag order; family members called the allegations 'fabricated' while a suspect released on Wednesday cited no basis for charges.
43 Articles
43 Articles
Israeli Spy Chief's Brother Smuggled Cigarettes Into Gaza, Earned Rs 1 Crore
Israeli authorities have arrested Bezalel Zini, the brother of David Zini, director of Israel's domestic intelligence agency Shin Bet, on suspicion of smuggling illegal goods worth tens of thousands of dollars into the Gaza Strip since the war began.
Considered luxury goods, they cannot enter Gaza, where a package costs up to 250 euros. Under investigation for smuggling several Israeli soldiers and Bezalel Zini, brother of the director of internal services
Brother of Shin Bet's chief arrested in connection to smuggling cigarettes and other goods to Gaza
Bezalel Zini, brother of Shin Bet chief David Zini, has been charged with 10 other people, allegedly involved in the smuggling ring. David was appointed as the head of the security by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu last year
Bezalel Zini, brother of Israel’s security chief, arrested in bust of alleged Gaza smuggling ring
The brother of Israel’s security chief was arrested along with 14 others in a major police bust of an alleged smuggling ring accused of shipping crates of illegal goods into the Gaza Strip.
Hamas needs money for reconstruction. A source: contraband. David Zini is supposed to prevent this as Schin-Bet chief. Now, of all people, his own brother has taken cigarettes to Gaza. He is accused.
The defendants took advantage of the military's access to the Gaza Strip to smuggle goods.
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