Jerusalem fire chief accused of opening brothel

Jerusalem Fire and Rescue Chief of Operations Moshe Suissa is suspected of trying to establish a brothel in the city's Atarot industrial area, among other alleged offenses, all of them described in a letter written by an assistant district attorney that was obtained by Jerusalem Councillor Saar Netanel.

Since August, police have been investigating Suissa for a variety of alleged offenses, including bribery, falsifying corporate documents and having private work carried out at his home by firefighters.

The Jerusalem Administrative Court yesterday heard a petition filed by Netanel and the Ometz good-government association against outgoing Mayor Uri Lupolianski. Lupolianski has so far refused to suspend Suissa and has given him his full backing. In August, a workplace restraining order was issued against Suissa that must be renewed by the court every two weeks. The mayor has refused to accept the recommendation of the prosecutor of the disciplinary court as well as the city's legal adviser, Yossi Havilio, according to which Suissa should be suspended from his job.

Havilio, Netanel, the Ometz organization and municipal comptroller Shlomit Rubin have been handling numerous complaints against Suissa for about two years. The latter issued a very critical report on the city's fire and rescue services about two weeks ago, which included a long list of apparently inappropriate actions at the city's fire stations. These include a birthday party held by Suissa for a grandson at the Givat Mordechai station, at which firefighters served as waiters, as well as numerous claims of promotions given to associates, and of verbal and physical violence.

"The allegations against Mr. Suissa are extremely serious, and it is sad and worrisome to discover that Suissa enjoys the full support of the mayor and of the outgoing municipal leadership," Netanel said.