Last update - 00:00 13/11/2007
Alperon crime family defendants charged with aggravated assault
By Roni Singer-Heruti, Haaretz Correspondent
Unless the defendants can cut a quick deal with the state, three members of reputed organized crime families will testify in a Tel Aviv courtroom next Thursday against three rivals accused of beating them up in a turf struggle. The witnesses have been summoned under the Rights of Victims of Crime Law.
Defendants Aryeh Alperon, Yossi Batzrawi and Tal Azoulay are charged with aggravated assault against Itzik Abergil, Eitan Haya and Motti Hassin in January, in an incident that received wide media coverage. It began as a meeting between the alleged members of rival crime families over control of deposit bottle and can recycling territories, outside the luxury high rise in Ramat Gan where Abergil lives, and turned into an attack on Abergil and Hassin.
The summonses came as a surprise to the recipients and to those in the underworld who heard about it. On paper, at least, it should be the best show in town next Thursday, as members of the most bitter enemies in the country's organized crime world confront each other in Tel Aviv District Court.
The Rights of Victims of Crime Law was passed to enable crime victims to have their day in court in the event that a plea bargain is offered. The victims tell the court how the defendants' actions have affected them, but the court is not obligated to take their testimony into account.
The three criminals invited by the state to say their piece are obviously not the typical victims of crime. Two served long prison sentences for murder.
It was reported Monday, in the wake of the summonses, that a plea bargain is being negotiated between the state and the three defendants. The summonses sent to the potential witnesses have increased the desire of the defendants' attorneys to reach a plea bargain before the witnesses have a chance to come to court and perhaps testify.
Sources close to the case said Monday that the likelihood of elite criminals such as Itzik Abergil giving testimony and Alperon and company was slim. When questioned by police after the assault, he preferred not to say anything against the men now being charged in connection with the beating.
If Abergil and his associates refuse to testify, Tel Aviv District Prosecutor Menahem Mizrahi, who is known for his insistence on bringing in witnesses for his trials, is likely to order them to appear - but no one can make them talk.
Even if the court finds Alperon and his cronies guilty, it will not erase the sting of the shame and humiliation suffered by Abergil and his men in the daylight brawl in January. The police believe it is only a matter of time before they take their revenge.
According to the charge sheet issued in February, the incident began as a meeting outside the Sha'ar Ha'ir apartment building, near Elite Junction in Ramat Gan. Ya'akov Alperon and his son Dror, a soldier in the Israel Defense Forces, were there, together with Batzrawi and Azoulay, as well as Ya'akov's brother, Aryeh. When things began heating up, Abergil began walking toward his car when he was attacked by the defendants. Batzrawi punched Abergil in the face. Aryeh Alperon joined in, and after Abergil managed to flee in his car the defendants continued beating up Hassin, who had remained behind.
Most of the incident was caught on the security cameras of nearby businesses, which was the basis for the men's indictments.