Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto, suspected of bribing the head of the Yaha, Lieutenant General Ephraim Bracha, landed in Israel this morning and appeared before the police investigation department to give testimony against the former commander of Lahav Unit 433, Lieutenant General Menashe Arbiv.
Rabbi Pinto, who has been abroad for several months, is giving his testimony as part of the plea bargain offered to him by the prosecution, regarding the alleged benefits granted to Arbiv and his family. Rabbi Pinto will also be tested on a polygraph to verify his version. If it is found that the material justifies filing an indictment against Chief Arbiv, according to an investigation published on the program 'Uvda', Rabbi Pinto will sign a state witness agreement, under which he will stand trial on charges of attempting to bribe the current head of the Yahaya. In such a case, the prosecution will demand that he be sentenced to a sentence not exceeding one year in prison. The rabbi's lawyers are expected to demand a reduced prison term - and the court will decide.
The final indictment will likely include one count of bribery, and perhaps also one count of obstruction of justice.
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On Thursday, Rabbi Pinto published a letter to his followers, in which he claimed that he had never given a penny to receive favors. His letter was published in the context of the final program of "Uvda" on Channel 2, which dealt with the rabbi and the suspicions against him.
At the beginning of the letter, Rabbi Pinto said that in recent months he has kept the commandment "and be pure from the Lord and from Israel" and therefore has decreed that he will speak only to his close friends and followers. "But what the heart desires, time suppresses, and this is the time to speak, and we pray to God that those who are pure and more will remain covered and that we will never have to say what is in our hearts until the Creator of the world removes the veils and the truth comes to light.".
""We tried with all our might during the days of Maryam Mamut not to involve the holy community in any matter and not to turn the current situation into a holy war, but rather we dealt with the grief and sorrow alone with my family members and many, many still do not understand and do not know anything about all that happened to us.".
Rabbi Pinto claims that he never gave a penny for favors. "Everything I did with love and joy to every Jew who came to our house, I rejoiced in everyone's joy, I cried with everyone's tears, I felt everyone's pain, and even when I helped someone from the ranks of the law - I did it with a whole heart and for the sake of Heaven, without expecting anything in return, but out of pain and sorrow that filled my heart with the sorrow of their hearts.".
Meanwhile, Uvda revealed that the Attorney General is considering filing an indictment against retired Lahav Unit 433 commander Menashe Arbiv, on charges of breach of trust. According to senior sources close to the investigation, Arbiv – who retired from the police following the Pinto affair – admitted to Yehuda Weinstein that Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto offered him a bribe of thousands of dollars in cash on two separate occasions.
Arbiv allegedly did not report these alleged bribe offers to his superiors in real time, which allegedly constitutes a breach of trust on the part of the former senior officer.
