The nation's courts are too keen to accept plea bargain arrangements which result in light prison terms for convicts, Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch said in a talk in Beersheba.
The plea bargains were part of the reason for the leniency being shown to convicted felons by the courts, Aharonovitch argued.

"I am not in favor of striking any plea bargain with any criminal. I am in favor of full convictions and not shortcuts," Aharonovitch, who is a former deputy police commissioner, said.

"Plea bargains are designed to shorten [legal] processes. I don't like that. If a court does not give a criminal the appropriate punishment, it sends a negative message, to criminals and to all those who enforce the law," he added.

"I am not satisfied with the lack of severity in punishments for criminals. Clear minimal sentencing must be passed down. Criminals cannot be let of the hook," Aharonovitch said.

"The court system is beginning to see that there is a problem here. They see that if they don't support law enforcers, the public will be harmed," he said.

Aharonovitch reiterated calls for more resources to be made available to police, and said dozens of police officers are currently under threat from crime bosses, as are judges and senior municipal officials.

While organized crime has sustained a "heavy blow, those who cause the greatest amount of damage are street criminals," Aharonovtich said.

Referring to the Settlement construction freeze, Mr. Aharonovitch said that he was skeptical that the construction freeze could lead to a diplomatic breakthrough with the Palestinian Authority and its president, Mahmoud Abbas.

(Jpost)