Officials at the State Attorney's Office were outraged over what Public Security Minister Yitzhak Aharonovitch had to say over the weekend. He said Rabbi Yoshiyahu Pinto was guilty "in the true sense of the word." They were mad because Aharonovitch's conduct undermined the investigation against Pinto. But his comments were appropriate. Why? Because Pinto's people had been spreading rumors that Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein struck a deal: The rabbi would be cleared in exchange for incriminating information on Maj. Gen. Menashe Arbiv. In other words, Arbiv, who allegedly received improper gifts from Pinto when he served as the head of the Israel Police's Lahav 433 major crimes unit, will stand trial, but the rabbi who initiated the transaction will walk. Weinstein has so far resisted this offer. He and Pinto's attorney, Eli Zohar, are going to try to resolve this matter when their teams meet on Sunday. Despite what the rabbi's inner circle would have you believe, no such deal is in the making. Having completed a preliminary review, the Justice Ministry's Police Internal Investigations Department believes that Arbiv should be the subject of a criminal probe. Weinstein, who chose to forgo this option when he reviewed the role of former Chief of General Staff Gabi Ashkenazi in the Harpaz affair, cannot let this drag on. Not this time. Just like he had to investigate the allegations leveled by Harpaz, he must do so now against Pinto. But the two affairs have one thing that sets them apart: In May 2012, when Harpaz provided then-State Comptroller Micha Lindenstrauss with information on Ashkenazi, he did not attach any strings; he let him sift through the data freely. That's why Weinstein's decision not to launch an investigation is so perplexing. But in the Pinto case, things are different; his attorneys said they would surrender the information implicating Arbiv only if Pinto faces no charges. That is unacceptable. Even if the information Pinto has on Arbiv is only partially true, he would have to be let go from the police. That said, Arbiv's actions are probably less damning than what Pinto is said to have engaged in according to the draft indictment. Pinto is accused of trying to bribe Brig. Gen. Ephraim Bracha, head of the National Fraud Investigations Unit. Pinto essentially wants to become a state witness. If he were to strike such a deal, this would be because law enforcement traditionally focuses on the big fish. But even if the damning allegations against Arbiv are corroborated, Pinto is still the whale that investigators should try to catch. Arbiv, while definitely no small fish, is still not a whale. Weinstein should not accept Pinto's terms; he should not let him off the hook. Rather than swat flies, he should drain the swamp. Any levelheaded individual knows what is preferable.
