Supreme Court tacks 14 months onto term of disgraced ex-mayor

The Supreme Court on Wednesday increased by 14 months the prison sentence of a former mayor who was convicted for a series of sexual assault, fraud and breach of trust offenses including naming a street after his mistress.

David Yosef began serving out a two-year sentence in February at the Hermon prison facility after being convicted of 16 crimes — including 11 counts of sex offenses — out of a total of 25 charges that were brought against him.

The Supreme Court accepted the position of the state prosecutors, who said the sentence was not enough, and added the extra time.

In December 2016 the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Yosef of harassing dozens of women who worked at City Hall in the central working class city of Or Yehuda, and firing those who rejected his advances.

He was found guilty of sex offenses against a number of women, of using municipal assets for his own benefit and that of his associates, and also of acting to prevent the disclosure of the offenses he had committed.

He was convicted of fraud and breach of trust, obstruction of an investigation, abuse of office, theft by a public official, indecent acts, sexual harassment and harassment.

In February prosecutors appealed to the Supreme Court, arguing that the two-year sentence was too light when taking into consideration the number of offenses and Yosef’s high office. Prosecutors also said that the punishment didn’t take into account the damage caused to his victims.

Yosef was also convicted of providing perks to women he courted. Among his transgressions was naming a new street “Bali” in 2013 in honor of a woman he was romantically attached to. At the time he gave no explanation for his reasoning, but indictment papers said it was the nickname he used for the woman.

Despite the lack of an explanation as to why he had decided on that particular name, the mayor’s proposal for the street was smoothly approved in a city council meeting. In a 2015 interview with Channel 10 the woman denied that the street was named in her honor.

The ex-mayor used his authority to conduct illicit sexual relationships with female subordinates, and stole municipal property – including computers, gift cards and even cash — in order to reward them, the court ruled.

Those who opposed his activities were shuffled about within the municipality or, in some cases, forced out of their jobs.

Many of the alleged victims who were part of the investigation were scared to testify against Yosef, and some asked police to withdraw their complaints.