Reply #5: Police Appear Handcuffed As Mob Feud Rages in Israel [View All]

[bemildred]

JERUSALEM — The anti-crime division of Israel's national police was under pressure to produce answers this week after a Netanya neighborhood was hit by an anti-tank missile apparently aimed at a reputed organized-crime boss.

No one was hurt in the December 22 missile attack, which left a large crater in the street outside the home of alleged crime kingpin Assi Abutbul. Neighbors complained that the missile narrowly missed destroying a residential building. Abutbul and several bodyguards were questioned and released.

The blast appeared to be the latest incident in a continuing gang war that has left a string of bodies across Israel, Europe and South America in the past five years, as rival Israeli crime families struggle for control of lucrative gambling operations.

The war pits Abutbul and a Tel Aviv-based ally, Ze'ev Rosenstein, against two rival clans: the Abarjil family, based in Lod, and a smaller Tel Aviv-area faction, the Alperons. Two Abarjil brothers, Itzik and Meir, have escaped repeated shooting attacks in recent years.

http://www.forward.com/articles/7085