Who is who in the Strassnov scandal
Israel, Judicial, 7/15/1998

The Strassnov affair continued to hit the main news bulletins and newspapers in Israel where the more the details, the more the scandal becomes juicy, sexy and food for gossip, mainly political gossip.

So far, it seems that Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has managed to distance himself from the affair. Labor Party member Nissim Zvili, who first broke the story of Netanyahu speaking with Judge Strassnov, announced Wednesday that he was satisfied with the statement made by Strassnov that the last time he spoke to Netanyahu was more than a year and a half ago, long before the trial of Manbar started.

Strassnov, however, rejected an appeal by Manbar's lawyer, Amnon Zichroni, to disqualify himself in the case and continued in Wednesday's deliberations to issue his sentence against Manbar, whom he convicted last month of treason and aiding Iran with chemical warfare know-how.

Follows is a list of who is who in the Strassnov affair: The lawyer: Pninat Yanai. Claims are made that she had a forbidden relationship with Strassnov -- even during the Manbar trial, when she was part of the defense team. She denies it. The judge: Amnon Strassnov. Head of the team which convicted Manbar. It was claimed that he behaved illegitimately by having a romantic relationship with the defense representative. He denies it. The ex-boyfriend: Ziv Chen. He is the central witness in the case. His testimony to the High Court of Justice is the basis of the accusations against Strassnov and Yanai. He recently broke up with Yanai. The Friend: Shai Bazak, Netanyahu's spokesman. It is not clear if he had a romantic relationship with Yanai. He denied any involvement in the case. Netanyahu's offices are trying to keep themselves as distant as possible from the affair. The Prime Minister: Binyamin Netanyahu. He denies having any discussion with Strassnov about the Manbar affair. His bureau is perplexed over the relationship between Yanai and Bazak. The GSS investigator: his real name cannot be published. His code-name is Nir and is currently head of interrogation division in the GSS and was head of the interrogation team that questioned Manbar. Zichroni maintained in his appeal to the High Court that Yanai also had a relationship with Nir during the trial." The Client: Nahum Manbar. He was convicted last month of treason. The Client's Wife: Francine Manbar. She claims that Yanai spoke with her about her close relationship with Justice Strassnov. "She told me that he loves her." The Defense Attorney: Amnon Zichroni. His appeal to the High Court of Justice for a retrial was denied. Now he requests that Strassnov eliminate himself. His second move after Wednesday's defeat is to appeal again to the High Court against Strassnov's eligibility to run the trial of Manbar.

Francine Manbar, Nahum Manbar's wife who battles for Manbar from her Swiss home, said: "What was conducted against my husband wasn't a trial, but rather a parody," in an interview she gave at her house in Switzerland. She strongly believes the prime minister of Israel had intervened in the case two weeks after her husband was arrested.

She recalled that the morning after the court reached its decision, Netanyahu publicly repeated his demand that Manbar get a tough sentence. "There's no doubt that Bibi was too involved in this case. I feel that everything was determined in advance. Even before the trial began, the prosecution already knew what line of defense we would take, and it imposed restrictions which stopped us from furnishing an adequate defense."

Businessman Nahum Manbar, 53, traveled a long way from his days on Kibbutz Givat Haim, where he was born and raised, to his conviction a month ago of betraying the state. Manbar was convicted of selling chemical materials, while knowing that they were to be used in Iran's chemical weapons program. The prosecution claimed that in exchange for the materials and knowledge he passed along to the Iranians, he pocketed $16 million. Manbar left Israel in 1985, after failing in business ventures and compiling heavy debts. He was accused of passing along bad checks, and took refuge in Switzerland.

The turning point came in the 90's, when he took up projects in the weapons trade, and was very successful. At this stage, he established contacts with the Iranians. He continued to visit Israel frequently, and donated money to several charity projects, as well as to the Labor Party election campaign. On March 27, 1997, Manbar was arrested upon his arrival in Israel. Reports said the arrest was authorized personally by Netanyahu. The arrest was classified but the military censorship later approved the publication to let the public learn that Manbar was arrested for allegedly committing crimes detrimental to the security of the state. In May, Manbar's trial started, and last month he was convicted of treason and aiding a hostile country: Iran.

When Amnon Strassnov started his term in the army law branch, he told his friends that one day he would become the chief army prosecutor. He did. When he left the army after 23 years of service, he said he was ambitious to become the state attorney. His verdicts often prompt large newspaper headlines. His verdicts involve stiffer than usual penalties (a father who raped his daughters received a 12-year sentence) and are often formulated in terms of general principles which go beyond the facts of the specific dispute.

For instance, in several decisions regarding sex offenses, he called for punishments in this area of the law to be stiffened; in one case, he called on women not to hesitate when filing complaints about sexual assault; and in another case in which a father confessed to beating his son, the judge ruled that such blows are a legitimate educational device. Back in the army, Strassnov was known for being lenient toward army officers and soldiers who beat up Palestinians during the uprising. He was the one who decided to recommend that then Colonel Yehuda Meir, whose soldiers were filmed by CBS camera in Nablus beating up Palestinians, breaking their arms and legs, not stand trial.

Amnon Zichroni is one of the most prominent criminal lawyers in Israel. He is known largely for representing suspects accused in espionage cases. Zichroni began his legal career in the 60's, serving as legal counsel for the left-wing newspaper Haolam Hazeh, edited by Uri Avneri. In the 70's and 80's he represented Avneri and a number of other left-wing activists as they all faced trial for meeting PLO officials in secret in Europe.

He became one of the most famous lawyers in Israel. He represented nuclear spy Mordechai Vanunu, before being replaced by Avigdor Feldman. He represented Izzat Nafso, a Druze army officer who was accused of espionage but released some 12 years later as he won an acquittal after it was proved that confessions were taken from him by force. Zichroni has been involved as a member of Israel's committee which seeks the release of missing or captured Israelis. In this context, he promoted a potential deal between Israel, Syria and Russia, in which Israel would have released two Israelis who spied for the KGB in exchange for the release of missing navigator Ron Arad. This deal was quashed at the last moment.

Zichroni was employed as Manbar's attorney 18 months ago when Manbar was arrested, and he represented Manbar through the reaching of a verdict in the case. Manbar was convicted of treason and is awaiting sentencing. Zichroni submitted an appeal to the High Court of Justice calling for Strassnov's dismissal. He claimed that one of the attorneys on his defense team, Pninat Yanai, defected and betrayed information detrimental to Manbar's case to Judge Strassnov because of close and intimate contact that the two had maintained behind Zichroni's back.

Zichroni's appeal contained an affidavit submitted by Yanai's former boyfriend in order to corroborate his claims. Ziv Chen, the boyfriend, depicted Yanai as a publicity hound and recounted that she was unable to reconcile herself to his desire to break up. His affidavit apparently included testimonies about written notes which judge Strassnov allegedly sent to Banai in which he explicitly spoke of their intimate relationship and of how badly he wanted to share his bed with her.

Ziv Chen: The ex-lover who unveiled the affair "Pninat had close relations with all the state's leaders," said Ziv Chen, Yanai's former boyfriend, in a press interview he gave Wednesday. "Among those with whom she had relations are Knesset members and famous people from the media. A number of them, such as Shai Bazak, Netanyahu's spokesman, even ate with us at our home. These relations were a source of pride for her," he said.

"She used to tell me all the time about all her suitors," Chen recounted. "Among other things, she showed me notes that Judge Strassnov used to send her, and she let me listen in on the phone calls he made to her. I kept all the notes for a rainy day, but they've disappeared." One of those notes, for instance read: "I see how cold you are. Get close to me and I will warm you up." There were allegedly more sexually explicit notes.

"During the time that we were a couple," said Chen, "I witnessed the contacts and ties that she had with people. I used to see how she would suck up to all the important people and could not believe my eyes. She introduced one of her girlfriends to Dedi Zucker [Meretz party Knesset member]. She managed, or so she claimed, Binyamin Ben Eliezer's primaries campaign within the Labor Party. She was an activist in Rehvaam Ze'evi's [extreme right wing] Moledet party [that advocates the expulsion of all Arabs from Palestine into the Arab world]. She maintained regular contact with Shai Bazak. And she also maintained contact with a number of other MKs, but I don't want to get into that right now. Bazak was a guest at our home at least twice. Pninat simply lives for publicity. During the course of the Manbar trial, she stayed at his side the entire time just so that the television cameras would catch her as well."

The Chronology: End of 1996: Attorney Pninat Yanai begins her clerkship with District Justice Amnon Strassnov. May 1997: Yanai completes her clerkship and is employed by attorney Amnon Zichroni. March 1998: Yanai leaves Zichroni's office due to conflicts in the Manbar defense team. June 16, 1998: Manbar is convicted of aiding Iran in developing chemical weapons. Last Tuesday: Zichroni presents his claims against Justice Strassnov to the State Attorney. Last Friday: Attorney General Elyakim Rubinstein tells Zichroni that at this stage he will not deal with his complaint. Sunday: Zichroni appeals to the High Court of Justice asking for a retrial. The High Court of Justice deems the case classified. Tuesday: Judges from the High Court of Justice reject Zichroni's appeal and allow the details to be published. Wednesday: The District Court reviews Zichroni's demand that Strassnov eliminate himself. Strassnov refuses to do so. Zichroni prepares for another appeal to the High Court.

The Unanswered Questions: 1- Why did the Israeli GSS allow Manbar to operate for such an extended period of time even after they discovered that he was dealing in the sale of forbidden equipment and materials to the Iranians? 2- What happened between July 1992, when Manbar was first warned by a GSS agent that he had to cease his activities with the Iranians in the field of chemical weaponry, and November 1993, when he was warned for the second time? 3- Why was Manbar not arrested in 1995 when the full details about the scope of his connections with the Iranians became known? 4- Did some of the "freedom of action" that Manbar was given in his contacts with the Iranians stem from the hope in Israel that he might be able to obtain some vital information about MIA Ron Arad or other issues? 5- What role did the Americans play in Manbar's arrest? They already had their own share of the Iran-gate scandal when they and Israel were involved in what was then known as the Contra affair.

Previous Stories:
  Manbar, sex and Netanyahu   (7/14/1998)
  Tel Aviv court accepts dancer's complaint against Egyptian ambassador   (7/10/1998)
  Israeli methods of torture unveiled   (5/19/1998)

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