THE DETROIT JEWISH NEWS
Levison Suicide Shocks
The Jewish News. Sponsors
Israeli Labor Establishment Piston 'Salute to Israel'
By MOSHE RON
The Jewish News Special
Israel Correspondent
TEL AVIV —The popula-
tion of Israel was shocked to
hear that the finance genius
of the Histadrut, Yaakov
Levinson, had committed
suicide.
Levinson left a letter in
the style of "J'accuse" — "I
had only two ways left," he
wrote. "To fight against all
who have defiled and ac-
cused me or to commit
suicide. I have no strength
left to fight against the His-
tadrut gang, Bank
Hapoalim and the Hevrat
Ovdim" (the central
authority of all Histadrut
economic enterprises).
According to Levinson's
last letter, which is re-
garded by his friends as a
testament, he decided to
commit suicide because the
Israeli press, which had re-
ceived secret documents,
waged a bitter public cam-
paign against him, accusing
him of misconduct when he
was the managing director
of Bank Hapoalim. They
said he set up a number of
sister companies which be-
came independent of Bank
Hapoalim.
In his last letter, Levin-
son accused the present
directors of the bank of
being behind the cam-
paign in the press, and
that they were protected
by some leaders of the
Histadrut and Hevrat
Ovdim. His wife, Nurit,
excluded five leaders
from attending Levin-
son's funeral: the General
Secretary of the Histad-
rut Yeruham Meshel, the
Director of Bank
Hapoalim Giora Gazit,
the Secretary of Hevrat
Ovdim Danny Rosolio, a
member of the manage-
ment of Bank Hapoalim
Moshe Olenik and the
judicial counselor of
Bank Hapoalim Aviv Le-
vin. She also asked that
nobody from the Labor
Party eulogize her late
husband.
Levinson was born in
1932 in Tel Aviv. His father,
Gershon Levinson, was the
director of the Financial
Department of the Histad-
rut. His uncle, Abraham
Levinson, was a writer and
director of the Cultural De-
partment of the Histadrut.
Yaakov was for 12 years a
member of Kibutz Rosh
Hanikra. He studied
economy and science at He-
brew University. After
finishing his studies he be-
came direCtor of Hevrat
Ovdim, and 16 years ago
chairman of Bank
Hapoalim. He turned this
bank into one of the biggest
in the country with many
branches abroad. Ten years
ago the late Prime Minter
Golda Meir asked him to be
Finance Minister, but he re-
fused.
A year ago, on the eve of
the last Knesset elections,
Levinson was again seen as
the chief candidate for Fi-
nance Minister of the Labor
Party. His speech at the
Party Congress made a
great impression. But the
terms he put forward to
party chairman Shimon
Peres for accepting the can-
didacy were rejected and
Prof. Haim Shachar from
the University of Tel Aviv
was selected. Some leaders
of the party were afraid of
the strong personality of
Levinson and were opposed
to his candidacy.
Two years ago, Levin-
son left Bank Hapoalim
and established with
American capitalists a
private company, U.S.I.
in Delaware. There his
troubles started. Some of
his former comrades in
Bank Hapoalim started
to submit accusations to
newspapers, accusing
Levinson of misconduct.
They said he transferred
large sums of money to
the U.S. in the name of
Bank Hapoalim and its
sister company, Ampal,
without confirmation
and control of the proper
authorities.
The secretary of Hevrat
Haovdim, Danny Rosolio,
set up an internal investi-
gation on these accusations,
carried out by the manager
of the Solel Boneh construc-
tion firm, Shraga Rotman,
and the manager of Tiuss,
Amiram Sivan.
After finishing this inves-
tigation it was decided by
the Histadrut and Hevrat
Haovdim to submit their
findings to the Judicial
Counselor of the govern-
ment, Prof. Yitzhak Zamir,
who decided to transfer the
material to the police.
Yaacov Levinson main-
tained that all this was done
by his opponents in the
Labor Party, the Histadrut
and the Hevrat Haovdim.
What caused him most pain
was that his best friends,
who did not believe the ac-
cusations, started to leave
him.
The tragic death of
Yaacov Levinson caused a
storm in Israeli political cir-
cles. Leaders of the Labor
Party, Cabinet members of
Likud, leaders of the His-
tadrut, Bank Hapoalim and
Hevrat Haovdim mourned
the tragic death. Some lead-
ers, who had taken part in
the campaign against him,
shed crocodile-tears about
the death.
Some Knesset members,
including Abraham Katz-
Oz, Uzi Bar-Am, Ahron
Harel and Haim Ronen,
demanded that an inquiry
commission deal with the
Levinson affair. Ahron
Harel charged that it was
not suicide but murder.
Former PrimeMinister
Yitzhak Rabin opposed the
establishment of an inquiry
committee of the Labor
Party. His opponents say
that some supporters of
Rabin took part in the cam-
paign against Yaacov
Levinson.
The suicide of .9Yaakov
Levinson will most prob-
ably bring about changes in
the leadership of the His-
tadrut. But it could also lead
to changes in the leadership
of th4pfliabor Party
The Jewish News will
sponsor the first annual De-
troit Pistons "Salute to Is-
rael Night" at 7:35 p.m.
April 10 at the Pontiac Sil-
verdome.
The Pistons will play the
Indiana Pacers.
Special discount tickets
will be available in advance
of the game to all Jewish
organizations. Fund-
raising opportunities will
Seats Available
for 'Anne Frank
ALEXANDER'S
13400 W. 9 MILE & COOLIDGE
OPEN 7 DAYS
be available to Jewish
groups and announcements
will be made at the game
welcoming the attending
Jewish organizations.
DAILY LUNCH &
DINNER SPECIALS
11 a.m. ts 11 p.m.
Sabena Belgian World
Airlines and Expert
Travel will offer a trip for
two to Israel, and tickets
to a Pistons-Celtics game
(April 13) will be given
away.
For ticket information,
call Piston group sales,
338-4500.
FROM $2.95
EXTRA INCLUDES:
SOUP, YES., COFFEE OR TEA OR 1 SOFT
pow OR 1 NOT CNOCRATE AND DESSERT
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IRVING'S
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Curtain time is 8:30 p.m.
Fridays and Saturdays and
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For ticket information,
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, YOU'LL LOVE ROSE'S HOME COOKING! 1
SUPER BREAKFAST SPECIAL MAR. 16 THRU MAR. 22
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OUR OWN FAMOUS
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BERKLEY THEATRE
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Barbra Streisand in
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Fri., Sat. & Weeknights
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FRESH BROILED
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Adults $2.50
Fri. thru Sun.
James Cagney & Jean Harlow in
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Fri. & Sat. 7:30 & 9:30
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1/2 WHITEFISH $448
INCLUDES: SOUP, SALAD, VEG. OR
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Friday, March 16, 1984 37
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