Open Letter to Senator Ortt and Fellow Legislators – Nursing Care in New York

An Open Letter to Senator Ortt and Fellow Legislators:

Re: The Deplorable state of Nursing Homes in New York

As the child of an elder who was evicted-with 123 others in a real estate developer churn of a Nursing Home in Brooklyn, I’ve become fully engaged in these matters & very much appreciate your efforts to get some of the dynamics changed with the two proposed Bills. When I saw this story, in the link that follows, I wanted, with all due respect, to offer my take on what I’ve learned along the way with my personal experience & advocacy.

https://www.whec.com/news/bills-proposed-to-hold-nursing-home-owners-accountable/5193223/

I’m betting the farm that what does get passed will be more optics than substance. What is required will never be written into law-Leading Age, NYSHFA, GNYHA & other LTCF Lobbying groups own too many NYS lawmakers who are currently in Albany. 

I’m going to ask you, if you’re not aware of the ProPublica Oct 2015 investigation, to take a look at it & its indictment of the DOH/Public Health & Health Planning Committee.

 https://www.propublica.org/article/new-york-for-profit-nursing-home-group-flourishes-despite-patient-harm

And…three years later two of SentosaCare’s homes were just sued- same ‘players’

two-city-nursing-homes-sued-inadequate-care-and-staffing

Two city nursing homes sued for inadequate care and staffing The lawsuits allege that understaffing at the facilities has led to infections and unsanitary conditions

Reality check…this is chronic…this is a business in which for-profit consortia with wide reaching tentacles own the Nursing Home industry in NY…and it has been cited that NYS has among the worst nursing home infractions & standards in America. Shame on us and shame on NY State Senators and Assemblypersons. It’s on you and the Governor!

A real solution? Jail time for criminal behavior towards the weak & vulnerable…overdue justice for victims of evil predatory harm…nothing less. It is an old story that NYS AGs don’t ever prosecute criminal owner/operators…especially former AG Schneiderman. The DOI refuses to investigate the deleterious DOH & PHHPC…we keep asking and they refer the problem home to…the DOH!? But the self-serving and abysmal Dept of Health which has abetted criminal owner/operators & rewarded malefactors with even more licenses-is the default department designated to monitor these very same miscreants!?! Unbelievable failure of stewardship. It must be changed.

In this particular matter you’ve addressed, the owners are parts of other consortia where sub-par facilities are a given-& rarely called to any serious account. Researching these names will provide you with chapter & verse.

https://orleanshub.com/nursing-home-sale-praised-and-panned/ 

“Comprehensive principal owners include Joshua Farkovits, Bernard Fuchs and Mordy Lahasky. They have ownership stakes in other nursing homes besides the ones in Buffalo and Albany.”

These Bills sound nice…but here’s the rub:

A) Will Cuomo sign off on them?

I doubt it.

B) Surprise visits? 

May or may not help-& lack of money to hire sufficient investigators is problematic. As well, as long as there are no ratios to allow sufficient aides & RNs to be hired by nursing home ‘businessmen’ who frankly do not care a whit…continuing bed sores, elopements, psychotropic overmedication to quiet patients are the real problems that ‘surprise visits’ will not mitigate.

C) Independent monitors selected by the shameful PHHPC?

By the inept DOH?!? Believe me when I tell you-appointed ombudsmen (as has been the case) are tagged along by owner/operator management so that residents are fearful to speak about infractions. 

“It would also require utilizing independent quality monitors, approved by the DOH, to directly supervise homes found to be non-compliant to ensure violations are addressed and fixed”

D) As for:

    ” The second of Ortt’s pending submissions will prevent any owners of nursing homes found with violations to acquire more properties until they’re rectified, after which there would be a two-year probationary period after the issues are resolved.”

It sounds good, Senator…but here again are three concerns…

    First-because violations are able to be self-reported by the operator…the emptiness of this standard is self-evident. 

    Secondly, the churning within the consortia of ‘investors’ is a revolving door…deals back & forth…two years means nothing when digging deeper-percentages exchanged in wheeling/dealing sub-rosa exchanges.  

    Finally-what is most important, is that until misdemeanors become felonies…all penalties-such as they purport to be, are nothing more than chump change fines -built into the cost of doing business. 

So please forgive my skepticism. 

What can I suggest that would be a positive proposal-you may well ask? Allow a revolving team of Nursing Home Resident family members to meet monthly as the truly independent monitors/reporters to document and to challenge infractions, failures, harm. Enshrine them to be as integral to the determination as the ‘appointed’ monitors. An authentic, no-holds-barred consortia that is calendared in Albany each month to share their findings & present them to the Health & Aging Committees as to what is actually going on. The imbalance of legislator pols (present company excepted!) whose existence relies on self-serving donors will never mitigate this…even as there are more elders in need of more safe long term care facilities…it will not happen with these two Bills, in my humble opinion. When new Bills are written, include the public -we’re the honest brokers with no conflicting favoritism.

New Bills irrespective of how well intentioned MUST be given teeth. This deleterious Governor must allow strong enforcement & unequivocal punishments to be passed into regulatory oversight. Only then will we see  prevention of the government sanctioned torment at life’s end for the most fragile souls…your loved ones and  mine. “

Yours sincerely,

A Concerned Citizen

 

Israelis, If you want a Change, You have About 4 Months to Get Yourselves Organized, Amid Scandal – Snap Polls

Facing potential indictment, Netanyahu opts for snap polls

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu delivers a statement at parliament in this file picture taken on December 19, 2018 (AFP Photo/Menahem KAHANA)

Jerusalem (AFP) – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, a skilled survivor of Israel’s cutthroat politics, is hoping snap elections will help him withstand a potential corruption indictment, analysts say, and polls show he is likely to succeed.

Netanyahu’s government decided on Monday to hold snap elections on April 9, seven months early, as it struggles to pass legislation with only a one-seat majority in parliament.

Israel’s parliament, or Knesset, must still formally vote to dissolve itself and set the election date. A first vote was scheduled for Wednesday.

Failure to agree on a key bill on the enlistment of ultra-Orthodox Jews in the military like their secular counterparts was the ostensible reason to call elections, but many analysts pointed to Netanyahu’s legal concerns as a decisive factor.

Israel’s state prosecutor Shai Nitzan told a conference last week that he was wrapping up his recommendations on three separate cases of alleged corruption and handing them over to the attorney general.

Israeli media reported that they include a recommendation to indict the prime minister.

Analysts say it seems Netanyahu wants to confront the potential charges with a fresh electoral mandate and is betting the attorney general will not issue his decision before April.

“What made him decide to move up the date of the elections was the speech by Shai Nitzan, who announced that his recommendations were ready,” said Emmanuel Navon, political science professor at Tel Aviv University.

– ‘Prefer to wait’ –

So far, the legal cases against Netanyahu appear to have had little impact on voters, and a poll taken after Monday’s announcement of April elections showed his Likud party would remain by far the largest.

Victory in April would put Netanyahu, the 69-year-old son of a historian who is no doubt mindful of his legacy, on track to become Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, surpassing founding father David Ben-Gurion.

A decisive win will allow him to ramp up his argument that the investigations are merely the result of a plot by his political enemies to force him from office against the will of the electorate.

He is not required to step down if indicted, and there is little doubt that he would refuse to do so.

Gideon Rahat of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and the Israel Democracy Institute think tank said he does not believe Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit should take the campaign into account in determining when to issue his decision.

But he will surely feel pressure to do so, said Rahat.

“I would say that he would probably prefer to wait until after the elections because he wouldn’t like to be blamed for influencing the elections or for trying to influence the elections,” he said.

With Israel’s centre-left opposition in disarray, Netanyahu’s main electoral threat appears to come from the right and centre.

His reputation as Israel’s “Mr. Security” accounts in large part for his electoral success, but it took a hit over a controversial Gaza ceasefire in November.

That truce led to the resignation of defence minister Avigdor Lieberman and the removal of his party’s five seats from the coalition, seen as the most right-wing in Israel’s history.

– ‘Pyrrhic victory’? –

Netanyahu worked then to hold the coalition together and has managed to do so until now.

There was speculation he wanted to wait to push for polls until anger over the ceasefire calmed.

After Monday’s announcement, Netanyahu faced fresh criticism over his argument in November that it would be irresponsible to go to elections because the country was facing a sensitive security situation.

It was an apparent reference to an upcoming military operation to destroy Hezbollah tunnels from Lebanon that was announced earlier this month.

Asked on Monday why now was a better time, Netanyahu said the operation was nearly complete.

Wildcard candidates could still emerge in the electoral campaign and pose a threat to Netanyahu.

Much of the focus was on former military chief of staff Benny Gantz, who polls show could do well, but he has given no word on his intentions.

While Netanyahu may succeed in his election gamble, the legal cases will remain and he will likely have to reckon with them eventually.

He “realised that the sand in the hourglass was running out,” political columnist Ben Caspit wrote in the Israeli newspaper Maariv.

“In my opinion, this might work, but will prove to be a pyrrhic victory. The clock will stop for a few minutes, making it possible for him to run for election, but it will resume ticking again energetically immediately afterwards.”

US Troop Withdrawal from Syria, Corruption, Subsidies for Ultra-Orthodox IDF Draft Dodging and a Government in Peril – Israel

Israel’s Government Collapses Amid Corruption Charges and Trump’s Mideast Chaos

The specific issue that brought down Bibi’s government was subsidies for ultra-Orthodox draft dodgers. Still, he thinks he’ll win at the polls again in April.

Amir Cohen/Reuters

JERUSALEM — In the most expected surprise declaration of 2018, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced the dissolution of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, and elections to be held in early April.

The move comes days after U.S. President Donald Trump roiled the region with the startling announcement he was immediately withdrawing U.S. troops from Syria, and as his long-anticipated plan to renew peace talks between Israel and the Palestinians appears to be have shriveled.

A 2019 electoral campaign was inevitable, in fact. Netanyahu’s four-year mandate runs out in November 2019, but Monday’s unforeseen move became inescapable when Netanyahu was unable to muster the necessary votes to pass a popular law levying heavier fines against orthodox Jewish seminary students who dodge Israel’s otherwise universal draft of 18-years-olds on religious grounds.

Netanyahu’s ultra-Orthodox coalition members opposed the law, and two opposition parties that had initially hinted at support withdrew it due to fears Netanyahu and his religious political partners had cut a secret deal providing financial compensation to counterbalance fines imposed on draft dodgers.

Elections have been in the air since Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman’s resignation last month, which left the survival of Netanyahu’s coalition hanging by a single Knesset vote.

Israel’s Government Is Collapsing After Gaza Truce

Noga Tarnopolsky

Lieberman has since taunted Netanyahu for his “government for survival,” but the prime minister remains the most popular leader in Israel’s rambunctious multi-part political process.

The next three months will see Bibi, as Netanyahu is widely known, confront unprecedented tests, none more challenging than his own precarious legal predicament.

Following police and state attorney recommendations that he be indicted on several corruption charges, senior Israeli jurists say his prosecution appears inevitable.

Finance Minister Moshe Kahlon, an essential partner in any future Netanyahu government, restated on Monday that no minister, and no prime minister, can continue to serve if indicted.

Israel’s Justice Ministry issued a rare statement reassuring the public that its work in sifting through the legal recommendations will continue “as usual” despite the announcement of elections.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, a Netanyahu appointee who will make the final determination, said at a conference last week that Israeli law has not yet had to decide whether a sitting prime minister may remain in office if facing legal prosecution.

In recent years, both a president and a prime minister resigned when facing almost certain indictment,. Both eventually served time in prison.

Speaking to a quickly assembled meeting of his parliamentary faction, and ignoring the legal drama, Netanyahu forecast victory in the April vote and said the coalition he currently leads—the most right-wing in Israeli history and one of the most volatile— is “the seed” for his future government.

Listing his administration’s achievements, Netanyahu ignored instability in the financial markets that saw the Tel Aviv stock exchange lose more than 5 percent of its value since U.S. President Donald Trump’s startling decision to withdraw American troops from Syria, where they have provided crucial support for Israeli efforts to contain and halt Iranian entrenchment.

Lauding his government’s “four full years of achievements,” Netanyahu praised Israel as “a growing power, with flourishing diplomatic ties” with continental powerhouse nations such as India, Brazil and Australia, far from Israel’s historic allies.

After extolling ties with “west and east Europe, and central Europe, and Latin America,” Netanyahu extolled Israel’s alliance “with the United States that has never been stronger, with the historic decision made by President Trump to recognize Jerusalem as Israel’s capital and move the embassy to Jerusalem.”

“Israel has the eighth most powerful military on earth,” he boasted to his followers. “It is hard to believe, Israel is not a large country, but serious institutions rank us that high.”

No Charges for Schneiderman – #MeToo, Changes to Statutes of Limitations Needed

Former N.Y. attorney general Eric Schneiderman won’t face charges after four women claim he abused them

THE DAILY NEWS

 

Disgraced New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman said in a statement he didn’t consider the decision by the Nassau County district attorney not to file charges against him over abuse allegations an exoneration. (Mary Altaffer / AP)

Former New York Attorney General Eric Schneiderman, who was forced out of office after four women he dated accused him of assaulting them, will not face criminal charges, prosecutors said Thursday.

The Nassau County district attorney’s office, tasked with investigating the case by Gov. Cuomo, found the women and their allegations credible, but noted there were obstacles in the way of filing charges against the disgraced elected official.

“I believe the women who shared their experiences with our investigation team,” Nassau County District Attorney Madeline Singas wrote in a statement. “(H)owever legal impediments, including statutes of limitations, preclude criminal prosecution.”

Schneiderman stepped down from the state’s top law enforcement post in May after several women whom he had been romantically involved with accused him of being physically abusive. Two of his accusers claimed in a New Yorker expose that Schneiderman choked, hit and slapped them during sex or after he had been drinking.

The 63-year-old initially denied being abusive, saying that the violence was consensual and arguing that he had “engaged in role-playing” with the women.

On Thursday, he apologized and said he had spent time in a “rehab” facility.

“I recognize that District Attorney Singas’ decision not to prosecute does not mean I have done nothing wrong,” he said in a statement obtained by the Daily News. “I accept full responsibility for my conduct in my relationships with my accusers, and for the impact it had on them.

“After spending time in a rehab facility, I am committed to a lifelong path of recovery and making amends to those I have harmed. I apologize for any and all pain that I have caused, and I apologize to the people of the State of New York for disappointing them after they put their trust in me.”

One of his accusers, Michelle Manning Barish, said Thursday she felt “completely vindicated” by Schneiderman’s apology — and even wished him well.

“I feel completely vindicated by Eric Schneiderman’s admission that he engaged in the abuse to which he subjected me and the other women,” Manning Barish tweeted.

“This is a victory for all women, but we need more than words,” she added. “I wish him well in his recovery process.”

She also called on the fallen official to donate his unused campaign contributions “to groups that combat sexual violence against women and protect those who are harmed.”

Schneiderman’s campaign fund had about $7.4 million in its coffers as of July, according to a campaign finance report filed with the state. He had even more money stockpiled, but his campaign refunded about $1 million in donations in the two months after he quit.

The Democrat made a name for himself as a champion of women’s rights and a opponent of President Trump before the disturbing allegations against him were made public.

New York City Public Advocate Letitia James made history on Tuesday by being elected to replace Schneiderman, becoming the first black woman state attorney general.

Several prominent women’s rights advocates slammed the DA’s decision, calling on the state to amend current laws to aid abuse victims.

“Mr. Scheiderman is yet another powerful man who hasn’t been held accountable in a court of law for his abuse of women,” Sonia Ossorio, the president of the National Organization of Women’s New York chapter. “Mr. Schneiderman used his power as a weapon. These women knew he could exert a tremendous amount of political and law enforcement power at any time and they wanted that to end and they didn’t want anyone else to be vulnerable to his abuse. They have done a great public service.”

The investigation found no misconduct by Schneiderman’s staff in the office of the attorney general, but Singas, who has spent much of her career working on sex-crime prosecutions, suggested lawmakers in Albany have some work ahead of them.

She called on the Legislature to take up a bill to “fill a gap” in state law “precludes a prosecutor from charging a perpetrator who slaps, punches, shoves, or kicks another person, without consent, for sexual gratification.”

A Diamond of a Story, the Reichberg Connection, where are the Diamonds?

NEW YORK POST

De Blasio donor allegedly used connections to try and get relative out of jail

By Kaja Whitehouse

November 8, 2018 | 12:45am

Modal Trigger

Jeremy ReichbergDavid McGlynn

MORE ON:

JEREMY REICHBERG

Ex-NYPD cop on trial for bribery says he didn’t have sex with hooker on plane

High-ranking cop dropped from NYPD corruption case

NYPD bribery trial could be delayed yet again

NYPD corruption defendants want jurors asked about bias over hooker romp

A de Blasio donor on trial for allegedly bribing cops was profiting off his powerful connections, including charging a family money to facilitate getting a relative out of jail, a witness testified Wednesday.

Jeremy Reichberg charged the family of Brooklyn cabinetmaker Avi Zangi $2,500 to intervene after Zangi was arrested in 2015 for rear-ending someone while driving with a suspended license, it was claimed at the Manhattan federal- court trial.

The witness, contractor Boaz Gazit, said he reached out to Reichberg on behalf of Zangi’s family because they understood the Borough Park businessman was “connected” to the NYPD.

“Yeah, they know he [Reichberg] is connected and he can get him [Zangi] out somehow,” Gazit said.

“[Reichberg] says he’s going to call someone for $2,500 and, ‘I can get him out in two hours.’ ”

Reichberg got paid despite failing to spring Zangi that night, according to earlier testimony from the Brooklyn highway patrol officer who arrested Zangi.

Officer Theresa Haley told the jury earlier that Reichberg’s pal and co-defendant James Grant called her precinct while she was processing Zangi and asked her why he wasn’t getting off with a “desk ticket,” which would have sent Zangi home that night instead of being sent on to Central Booking.

Haley said she refused the request, despite Grant’s high rank as an NYPD deputy inspector, which is an appointed position.

Reichberg stands accused of a years-long scheme to bribe cops, including Grant, along with real-estate investor Jona Rechnitz, who has pleaded guilty and is cooperating with the feds.

The four-week trial is expected to smear several cops who the feds say also did favors for Reichberg and Rechnitz in exchange for meals and vacations — but who were never charged.

Gazit also told the jury on Wednesday that he installed new windows in Grant’s home in 2013 at the behest of Reichberg.

The windows together with the construction cost roughly $8,000, but he was only paid $2,000 — by Reichberg, he said.

Lawyers for the defense argued that Gazit wasn’t paid for the windows because he did a bad job.

They also claimed that the $2,500 that Reichberg was paid to help following Zangi’s arrest was for actual work, including hiring a lawyer.

FILED UNDER BRIBERY ,  JEREMY REICHBERG ,  NYPD

66th Precinct, Shomrim, Violence and the Hispanic Victims of the Crimes, Who is Hating Whom?

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-metro-false-accusation-orthodox-borouh-park-nypd-20181101-story.html

Dear Readers:

We ask that you watch the video as linked above carefully.  It can be found on the page covering the related article on THE DAILY NEWS. 

Our sources have told us that it is not uncommon for Hispanic and other non-ultra-Orthodox community members to be “roughed up” by members of the ultra-Orthodox community and by members of the Shomrim (or neighborhood watch). We have been told that the non-ultra-Orthodox victims of these crimes rarely say anything at all for fear that anything they say will be deemed “hate speech” thereby paving the way for the involvement of the Hate Crimes Unit.

Self-defense should not be deemed a hate crime.

Our sources have stated that it is particularly colorful when these incidents occur in the 66th Precinct, with specific implications that precinct members are permitted to moonlight after work and moonlighting for the ultra-Orthodox community can be very lucrative.

We suppose it might also help with anger management at the end of a rough day…

We have been told that there are likely many more similar videos like the one above that either have not been exposed, are “lost,” “hidden,” or “missing.” The stories we are receiving are similar to tales of protection money and gang violence, though more common in the setting of “collections.”

It might be time for law enforcement to start paying attention to what is going on within the ultra-Orthodox communities. There are CCTV cameras everywhere in that community. If you are not finding one, or if the video happens to be missing or shut off, there is something very wrong.

The members of the ultra-Orthodox community are not generally sloppy. If there is no footage it is because someone did not want there to be footage.

 

http://www.nydailynews.com/new-york/nyc-crime/ny-metro-false-accusation-orthodox-borouh-park-nypd-20181101-story.html

Hispanic man allegedly roughed up in his doorway by Jewish neighborhood security patrol raises questions about group’s tactics

An accusation that a Brooklyn man yelled “Kill all the Jews” sparked a wild confrontation that led to an arrest that was later voided — and raised questions about members of a neighborhood patrol who allegedly pulled the man from his home and roughed him up.

The confrontation, captured on video obtained by the Daily News, happened just past midnight last Thursday. The footage shows a 26-year-old Hispanic man getting accosted at the doorway to his home — on 42nd St., in the heart of Orthodox Borough Park — by two other men believed to be from Shmira, a neighborhood patrol group, a source said.

Shmira denied being involved in the confrontation, saying it showed up on the scene after the Hispanic man was involved in the altercation at his front door.

“We absolutely didn’t do anything wrong,” said Levi Leifer, the director of Shmira of Borough Park.

Police said the incident started when the Hispanic man and an Orthodox man argued about a blocked car. At some point, police said, the Hispanic man tried to get into his home.

But video taken from across the street showed the Hispanic man being followed up the stairs by another man, then pushing back as the man appeared to be keeping him from getting inside. Eventually, a third man joins in as the Hispanic man is pulled back outside and roughed up.

The video ends with a van pulling up in front of the house and several men piling out of it, as one of the men involved in the confrontation at the doorway motions towards it.

Police said the Orthodox man involved in the argument about the blocked car called Shmira and reported that the Hispanic man yelled “Kill all the Jews” and punched him. The same allegation was made to police.

The source said other video shows the Hispanic man crossing the street, then arguing with two Orthodox men who accused him of breaking into cars.

“Kill Jews,” they later accused the Hispanic man of saying. The Hispanic man, who could not be reached for comment, at some point was able to call police, the source said.

Neighbors told The News varying accounts, including that the Hispanic man mentioned he wanted to kill Jews.

The Hispanic man was arrested based on the account of the first Orthodox man he argued with. He was taken to the 66th Precinct and the Hate Crime Unit was called in to investigate. After video was located the Hispanic man was released.

Police wouldn’t say what led to the decision not to charge the men seen roughing up the Hispanic man, though Leifer said Shmira has given the NYPD a roster of all its members.

A law enforcement source said the Brooklyn District Attorney’s office is considering assault charges in the case.

The DA’s office had no comment.

To continue to the original article, click here.

Rampant Corruption and Israel’s Eroding Core Values, Former Spymasters Speak

Ex-Mossad chief: Israel ‘dangerously sick’ under Netanyahu’s leadership

TIMES OF ISRAEL 28.March.2018

Five former spymasters say PM eroding country’s core values, decry ‘pervasive’ culture of corruption under his tenure

 

Top row: Former Mossad chiefs from L to R: Danny Yatom, Tamir Pardo, Zvi Zamir, Shabtai Shavit, Nahum Admoni and Efraim Halevy. Bottom row: Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L) and President Reuven Rivlin host a candle lighting ceremony for of the Jewish holiday of Hanukkah at the President’s residence in Jerusalem on December 18, 2014. (Haim Zach / GPO)

Five former chiefs of the Mossad spy agency leveled harsh criticism at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this week, with one saying that Israel was “dangerously sick” under his leadership.

“I feel so bad about what is happening in the country, the corruption is so deep, so pervasive,” Shabtai Shavit told the Yedioth Ahronoth daily in an excerpt of a joint sit down interview ahead of Independence Day. “There are no red lines, no taboos and add to that the deepening rift among the people.”

Shavit was joined by Zvi Zamir, Nahum Admoni, Danny Yatom, Efraim Halevy and Tamir Pardo in expressing serious concerns about Israel’s future.

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“As intelligence people, our most important skill is being able to anticipate the future,” Shavit added. “So I ask myself what kind of country will my grandchildren inherit, and I cannot give an answer to that.”

“It’s a problem of values, of divisions,” Pardo said. “We need leadership that is able to navigate between crises at the right places, but unfortunately, that does not exist today.”

Zamir, the oldest of the group at age 93, fired off the sharpest criticism of Netanyahu, saying the prime minister and his powerful cronies were only serving their own interests.

“I’m not sure that for the prime minister and the senior officials surrounding him that public interests prevail over their personal interests of more money and more power,” he said.

“We are dangerously sick,” he said. “Netanyahu may have inherited a country with symptoms, but he has ushered it into a state of malignant disease.”

Yatom echoed Zamir’s sentiment, saying it was unsurprising that Netanyahu and a growing number of his associates are under investigation for corruption, because they put their own interests ahead of the country’s.

Israel, he warned, was “on a downward spiral,” and called on the prime minister to resign.

In his interview, Halevy criticized Netanyahu, saying his “need for headlines and obsession with his public image verses running the country and managing its security matters is problematic.”

“I think something very bad has happened to leadership in Israel,” he added. “There is a major flaw in the political system that everything that isn’t illegal is kosher.”

88-year-old Admoni said his main concern with Israel today is the growing rift between Israelis, asserting the divide between religious and secular populations was “worse than its ever been.”

“The divide just keeps growing,” Admoni lamented.

Nearly all of the former intelligence officials have publicly censured Netanyahu in the past, though the extensive criticism leveled against him in Yedioth on Tuesday was unprecedented.

The full interview with the six former Mossad chiefs will run in Yedioth’s weekend magazine, 7 Days, on Friday.

Netanyahu is embroiled in several corruption scandals and was questioned again by police on Monday in connection with the Bezeq scandal, known as case 4000.

The probe involves suspicions that Netanyahu, who has served as communications minister for several years over his past two terms as premier, advanced regulatory decisions benefiting Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch in exchange for flattering coverage of the Netanyahus from the Elovitch-owned Walla news site.

In addition to Case 4000, Netanyahu is also suspected of wrongdoing in so-called cases 1000 and 2000, in which police have recommended he be indicted for bribery, breach of trust and fraud.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife are suspected of receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, amounting to some NIS 1 million ($282,000) worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian resort owner James Packer, allegedly in return for certain benefits.

Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid-pro-quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister weaken a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

Netanyahu denies wrongdoing in all the cases.