The health ministry permanently revoked the medical license of former minister Gonen Segev this week, due to a drug smuggling conviction.

In 2005, Segev was sentenced to five years in prison for attempting to smuggle 32,000 ecstasy pills from Holland into Israel, forging his diplomatic passport, and using the forged passport to prevent the Dutch police from searching his person.

Retired judge Vardi Zeiler, who is responsible for penalizing doctors on the behalf of the health ministry, accepted the recommendation of the ministry's disciplinary committee to revoke Segev's license.

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Zeiler wrote in his ruling that "the heart of a doctor's duty is to safeguard human life and heal as much as possible." Distribution of drugs fundamentally contradicts this mission, Zeiler wrote.

"Segev sought to smuggle into Israel tens of thousands ecstasy pills not out of financial distress, but out of pure greed," Zeiler wrote. He added that Segev's submission to greed points to the fact that he "lacks an internal brake system, and has no ability to control himself. The potential harm to the population did not affect him, just as his status as a former minister did not deter him from smuggling drugs. Segev's indifference to the health and welfare of the drug users in this country is reason enough to revoke his license."|