Meshi-Zahav attempts suicide
Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, accused sex offender and former ZAKA head, attempted to commit suicide on Thursday morning.
Medical reports from Shaare Zedek Medical Center in Jerusalem last night indicate that he was in critical condition, although doctors managed to stabilize him.
Shaare Zedek head Ofer Merin said that the outcome of the situation will only be understood within the next day, and only then “we can ask what damage was caused and to what extent.”
His son reportedly called for emergency services after he found his father at home, where he attempted to hang himself. Medics evacuated him to the hospital after performing life-saving treatments at the scene.
Police found a suicide note in his house. Meshi-Zahav’s sons have been starkly divided about it, however, with one of them saying it is written in his father’s handwriting, and another saying it isn’t.
His sons are also claiming that the letter is actually forged. Meshi-Zahav’s lawyer said that he is planning on suing for the “severe act,” N12 reported.
A neighbor told Channel 12 that Meshi-Zahav looked forlorn on Wednesday, and although he had met him in synagogue on Saturday, weeks after police interrogations, he would not leave the
house.
Meshi-Zahav, 59, had been accused of sexually assaulting women and children over a period of decades from his position of power, using tactics of fear and intimidation to silence his victims.
In March, a police investigation was officially launched, after an initial report opened a floodgate of abusive accusations against him from men, women, and teenage boys and girls of all ages.
ZAKA Special Units Director Haim Otmezgin claimed that many of the allegations against Meshi-Zahav came from sources who had tried to blackmail him.
“There needed to be a trial; people didn’t have to base things on rumors,” Otmezgin said, adding that he himself had witnessed threats that the former ZAKA head had received. “If you don’t agree to let us fund-raise for the organization, we will bury you and destroy your family,” read one letter.
The man who threatened Meshi-Zahav, according to Otmezgin, was attempting to fund-raise for ZAKA, but pocket some of the money himself. Meshi-Zahav apparently knew of the scheme, and was threatened for it.
“Whoever knows Meshi-Zahav knows that he could never hurt a soul,” he insisted. “I’ve known him for 25 years.”
Following the investigation, Meshi-Zahav stepped down as head of the organization he founded in 1989, and forfeited the Israel Prize he was set to receive this year.
Two months ago he lost his parents to corona, just a month after having lost his brother to the same disease.
Israel has Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Arrow, three systems designed to stop threats from missiles and drones. It also has the US Patriot system. Jerusalem and Washington jointly developed Arrow and David’s Sling, and Israel built the Iron Dome, two batteries of which have been provided to the US Army in the past year.
Why was a Patriot chosen to take down the S-200 missile that was flying from Syria? Patriots were used by Israel in 2017 and 2018 against drones flying from Syria. The Jewish state has also had Patriot batteries in southern Israel for many years near Eilat. Patriot missiles have been used widely by Saudi Arabia against threats by the Houthis in Yemen, including ballistic missiles.
However, Israel’s drills last year were intended to use Iron Dome and David’s Sling against the same targets, to show they can operate well together. David’s Sling has ranges similar to those of the Patriot, and its interceptor is designed to fit into a Patriot battery.
Still, there are many unresolved questions about the April 22 incident. Why did Syria fire a missile in the direction of Dimona? If it is true that the
missile did not purposely target this sensitive area, then why was it heading towards southern Israel in the first place?
Trying to see how a Syrian missile could even end up in southern Israel using a map indicates that the flight path would likely take it over parts of Jordan and the West Bank. Yet explosions were heard over Rehovot and Modi’in on the morning of April 22 during the incident that unfolded.
At around 1:40 a.m., Israel said that “sirens sounded in Abu Qrenat.” This is an area near Dimona. At 2:55 a.m., Israel said that “a short while ago, surface-to-air missile fire was identified from Syria, which landed in the Negev area. In response, a few minutes ago, the IDF struck the battery from which the missile was launched and additional Syrian surfaceto-air batteries in the area.”
This leaves questions about what caused the Syrians to fire an air-defense missile. In March 2017, the Syrians also fired an S-200 that went over Jordan and had to be intercepted by an Israeli Arrow missile. It was carrying a large warhead of several hundred kilograms, and Israel judged it to be a serious threat.
The Arrow is designed to stop large ballistic missiles and threats that may occur beyond the atmosphere, like longrange ballistic missiles. Iran, for instance, builds missiles with ranges of several thousand kilometers and has supplied other missiles to proxy groups in the region. In August 2018, Iran sent long-range missiles to pro-Iranian groups in Iraq.
Reuters noted that “the Zelzal, Fateh-110 and Zolfaqar missiles in question have ranges from about 200 km. to 700 km., putting Saudi Arabia’s capital Riyadh or the Israeli city of Tel Aviv within striking distance if the weapons were deployed in southern or western Iraq.”
THERE WERE no reports in Syria of air defense being activated before the reports of the sirens in southern Israel; there were no reports of airstrikes either. Missile debris from the alleged S-200 missile Syria used was found in Israel.
People in Abu Qrenat apparently heard a loud explosion. Was that from the impact of the Syrian missile or from an interception? This is not clear. The S-200 debris was reportedly found some 30 km. from the Dimona facility.
Aurora Intel, an online Twitter account that uses open-source intelligence to track incidents, has focused on the Dumayr S-200 battery site as the alleged source of the Syrian fire. Aurora concluded that the Syrians may have preemptively fired a missile suspecting an upcoming Israel airstrike. Aurora also writes that the debris from the S-200 was found in a pool in Ashalim in southern Israel.
If it is true that Syrian air defense didn’t mean to fire a missile towards Dimona but were firing wildly as they have in the past, such as in March 2017, it still leaves questions about how such a large warhead was able to penetrate so deeply into Israel, which has some of the most well-defended airspace in the world.
The S-200 is not a sophisticated weapon. If it can cause such an emergency by being lobbed in the wrong direction, that leaves questions about more sophisticated weapons purposely targeting Israel.
In September 2019, Iran used drones and cruise missiles to strike at Saudi Arabia’s Abqaiq facility. Tehran has supplied the Houthis in Yemen with drones and ballistic missiles. It has sent precision-guided munitions to Hezbollah. It has trafficked ballistic missiles to Iraq and sent rockets and other weapons to Syria, as well as drones.
Much remains unclear about the incident on April 22, including why Syria fired a missile so wildly and so far south into Israel – and whether Israel’s
interceptors failed to stop the threat.