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Uzi Cohen, Ra'anana Israel Deputy Mayor Respected In Death
By
Joel Leyden But then again anyone who checks insurance statistics will see that many men hear the sirens of ambulances between 50 - 55. It is not an easy age for men. And for Cohen it must have been ten times as hard. Cohen was buried on Friday at the Kfar Nahman cemetery in Ra'anana. Before the funeral, Ra'anana residents paid their last respects to Cohen, whose casket was placed at Yad Lebanim prior to the funeral. Reaction to Cohen's death was mixed. In the Jewish Sephardic community of Israel many tears were shed. Cohen had risen from near poverty to respected national political status, serving as one of the leaders of Israel's right wing Likud party. Cohen recently expressed the opinion of a majority of Likud members, stating: “Bomb Iran’s nuclear reactor before it is too late.”
But Cohen's extreme right wing comments bordering on racist hatred such as proposing “massive ethnic cleansing” of non - Jews in Palestine - Israel as a “final solution” of the Palestinian - Israel conflict alienated him from the majority of Israel's moderate population. Cohen, as deputy mayor of Ra'anana and serving as a member of Israel Knesset proposed that Israel, the United States, the European Union as well as oil-rich Arab states make concerted efforts to create a Palestinian state in northern Jordan. He suggested the Hashimi royal family in Amman “might view favorably this idea”. Cohen once said Palestinians should be given 20 years to “leave voluntarily”. “In case they don’t leave, plans would have to be drawn up to expel them by force.” Cohen’s racist ideas had drawn strong reactions from Palestinian leaders in Israel. Israel Arab Knesset member Ahmad Taibi described Cohen as representing “Israel’s ugly face”. “This man espouses Jewish fascism and he is trying to foster his venomous ideas, and I must say he is achieving remarkable success,” Taibi told Aljazeera.net. “The idea of ethnic cleansing is no longer confined to the far-right parties in Israel; many in the Likud support ethnic cleansing.” Taibi said tabling a racist proposal for discussion is in itself a grave development. “It is not important what the result will be. The important thing is that they are going to dignify a fascist proposal like this by discussing it in a formal meeting.” But far beyond Arab reaction to Cohen's remarks were the many cynical remarks made by the citizens of Ra'anana. "The man is a joke," said one resident. He alluded to the many Purim holiday masks which were made poking fun at this man.
and controversial opinions. But Cohen, with all of the outrageous remarks he was famed for, including calling for a Disneyland to be created in Ra'anana had a serious and successful side. Ra’anana, has become a model of bourgeois living in Israel, much favored by Anglos from the US, England and South Africa. Recently many French have taken up residence in Ra'anana. It is one of the most beautiful, best-cared-for, greenest, most prosperous cities in Israel. Ra’anana even has big, green street numbers painted on all the buildings so you can actually find where you want to go - a unique touch in Israel urban design. “All of this is only because of Uzi. He’s a great man,” says Ben-Zvi Yosef, 41, working at “Fistok’s House,” a snack bar on Ra’anana’s main street, Ahuza, a block from City Hall. “He’s responsible for the appearance of the city - for all the parks, trees, bushes, flowers, street lighting, everything. He said he was going to build a lake in the municipal park and no one believed him, but he did it. Whatever people in the rest of the country think of Uzi, people who live in Ra’anana know the real story. You can see it with your own eyes.” Cohen, long an influential member of the Likud Central Committee, was born in 1952 in Moshav Tal Shahar and moved with his family to Ranaana at the age of two. When
he turned 16, he joined a political party that would later become
the Likud. Cohen was a well known public figure in Israel, mainly due to his work with the Likud and his larger than life persona. He was often quoted in the media and boasted of his ability to "arrange jobs" for friend and confidants through his position within the Likud party. As a results of these boasts and actions by political rivals Israel police charged Cohen over suspicions of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust. According to suspicions, the Likud politician built a number of extensions to his house without acquiring permits while he was a member of the municipal city planning committee. In addition, Israel police suspected that he failed to pay municipal taxes or fees for a number of years and issued business permits in return for spoils. Last November, Israel police fraud squad officers raided Cohen's offices in Ra'anana and confiscated a number of files. The raid was part of an on-going investigation against Cohen over illegally issuing building permits, legalizing existing buildings without permits and improper use of municipal facilities for private purposes. Two weeks ago the elite National Fraud Squad announced that it had concluded an over three-year-long probe into the acting Ra'anana mayor. Investigators stated that they had concluded the probe into Cohen and that they believe that there was substantial evidence against the Likud activist to charge him with fraud and violation of the public confidence in three different cases that had been examined as part of the investigation. Israel police found evidence pointing to what they described as "exceptions in building his private house, employing the Ra'anana's gardening contractor in his private house and illegally providing a business license to the event venue "Green Skies." Among the allegations against the acting mayor and Likud central committee member is the suspicion that he built additions on his house without permits - an offense punishable by municipal demolition of the illegal add-ons. Cohen was questioned by detectives in June of last year, and in November 2006, police raided his Ra'anana offices. With the conclusion of the investigation, the Israel police passed the case file on to the Israel Central District Attorney's office for review, together with their recommendation that Cohen be indicted. But to be charged and even indicted for alledged in crimes in Israel is the norm for anyone seeking and holding political office. It's the weapon of choice for political rivals. But for Uzi Cohen, a highly sensitive man, it may have been the straw which broke him and led him to a possible suicide or a stress induced heart attack. Cohen, already famous as a central committee member, vaulted to popularity in 2005 when Eretz Nehederet ("It's a Wonderful Country") picked his image to represent a cronyistic political insider, who was constantly trying to curry favors and make deals with other characters. Sales of Uzi Cohen masks reached high volume during Purim of that year, as Israelis laughed at his catchphrase "You're a cutie, you are." Cohen was also known for several large scale public works programs that he championed in Ra'anana, including the building of a canal that he said would turn the city into "the Venice of the Middle East." In recent years, Cohen became a household name after he was spoofed on 'A Wonderful Country,' a prime-time satirical television show on Israel Channel 2 Television. Cohen became an easy target. Not perhaps so much for his outrageous remarks, for which this writer finds as racist, but perhaps for the color of his skin. Cohen was dark skinned. Sephardic, that is a Jew originating in the Iberian Peninsula (modern Portugal and Spain) from Yemen, Egypt and Africa. And Israel has been known to have a quiet rift for many decades between the White Ashkenazi from Europe and the those who are dark skinned. This
rift has subsided much in the past decade as inter marriage
became a norm among Jews in Israel. I had met with Cohen. His English was very limited but all the same I could see the sincere and emanating warmth for which this man became famous for. And I knew his wife Carmella, who works in many of the kindergartens of Ra'anana. She took care of one of my daughters for a year. Cohen became a model, a hero for other Sephardim living in Israel. As did former Israel President Moshe Katsav who was born in Iran. When Katsav was elected President of Israel, it was a clear statement that Sephardim in Israel were now accepted into the ruling class. But both men became undone by politically motivated police investigations and perhaps by a still, quiet racist stream in Israel. But it may have been the same racism for which Cohen preached against Arabs which contributed to his own downfall. All the same there are no "jokes" tonight about Uzi Cohen. Only a sobering sadness in Ra'anana that a fellow Jew who served his country was now dead. Whether one agreed with his politics or not, the fact remains that Uzi, a man of great dreams and highly controversial opinions in his death may have had the last laugh on us all. Forcing us to take a serious look at who we are, where we come from and who and why we call someone - anyone a "joke."
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