The "HaTzel" affair: Police officer questioned by Mahash on suspicion of breach of trust
Following a Haaretz investigation revealing that Yoav Eliasi apparently used his connections to prevent the closure of a club in Tel Aviv, Mahash investigators questioned a police officer of the rank of Rav-Pak under caution. The officer was released under conditions of being barred from police facilities, a week after the Commissioner dismissed Eliasi from commanding the standby squad in the city. Eliasi continues to deny the allegations.
A police officer with the rank of Rav-Pak (Major) was questioned today, Sunday, under caution by the Police Internal Investigations Department (Mahash) in the case of rapper Yoav "HaTzel" Eliasi, among other things on suspicion of breach of trust. At the end of his interrogation, the officer was released under conditions of being barred from police facilities and from contacting those involved for 10 days.
The investigation comes after the Police Commissioner, Rav-Nitzav Dani Levy, decided last week to dismiss Eliasi from his position as commander of the standby squad in the Tel Aviv district. The dismissal followed a report by journalist Josh Breiner in the Haaretz newspaper, according to which Eliasi used his connections in the police for the benefit of an entertainment complex in Tel Aviv in which he was a partner.
Among other things, recordings were published in which he is heard apparently boasting about his connections in the police, which helped him prevent the club's closure after a violent incident occurred there. In one of the conversations, Eliasi is heard telling his partner:
"I am educating them there in the police that this club cannot be touched. Anything related to the police and the club, you call me at that moment, no matter what time."
The investigation revealed that Eliasi, who is close to the Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir, apparently acted vis-a-vis the Tel Aviv District Police to obtain concessions for an entertainment complex on Rothschild Boulevard, following violent incidents at the site.
According to the investigation, this emerged from testimonies, correspondence, and recordings, according to which Eliasi updated the owners of the complex that he had "fixed the matters" after a closure order was issued for the place. Eliasi denied the allegations and told Haaretz: "I never intervened in the club's affairs with the police."
In a video that Eliasi published on his Instagram account, he claimed that there is no decision by the Commissioner to dismiss him from the position of standby squad commander, but rather he decided on his own to freeze his service, according to him for the benefit of the unit members under him:
"There are fighters who are under me. So that they are not harmed by this story - I left, I deposited the rifle, I put down the ID, I said - 'Guys, I am freezing my volunteering', until the truth comes to light."
