Man convicted of bribing former senior Rivlin adviser to advance requests to government ministries

The Haifa District Court on Monday convicted Mazid Hamdan of giving bribes to a former senior adviser to former president Reuven Rivlin in exchange for help advancing his own interests and those of his clients with public authorities, the State Attorney's Office announced on Monday.Hamdan admitted the offenses under a plea agreement based on an amended indictment. Prosecutors and defense lawyers agreed to seek a six-and-a-half-month custodial sentence to be served through community service, alongside a suspended sentence and a fine whose amount would be determined by the court.Judge Dr. Muhammad Ali convicted Hamdan of bribery offenses involving Ze'ev Dolinsky, who served as Rivlin's personal and senior adviser. Proceedings against the remaining defendants continue, prosecutors said; Hamdan's admission does not determine their guilt.According to the amended indictment, Hamdan, a resident of Yanuh-Jatt near Acre with political connections, helped people advance requests with government bodies, sometimes for payment. He and Dolinsky had known each other for years through their activities in Likud.Hamdan bribed Dolinsky for planning approvals, advancing passport applicationsThe first count covers their dealings between 2018 and 2020. Hamdan admitted paying Dolinsky at least NIS 6,000 in 2018 through two sums of NIS 3,000 made available for cash withdrawal, in return for assistance with matters in which Hamdan had a financial interest.The requests ranged from planning approvals and entry permits to medical training and government grants. The indictment describes Dolinsky using his official title and contacts to approach public officials on Hamdan's behalf.One request concerned Hamdan's plan to build a gas station on land he owned. According to the account Hamdan admitted, Dolinsky approached a Transportation Ministry official and a planning committee secretary to advance the application. He presented the request to the secretary as though it had also been submitted to the President's Residence, although it was unrelated to that office.Hamdan also sought help renewing a hunting-rifle license that had previously been revoked, securing permission for an Abu Dhabi resident and two Jordanian citizens to enter Israel, and advancing an application for an Israeli passport.Other approaches concerned a medical residency at Galilee Medical Center in Nahariya and a doctor's request for a NIS 250,000 grant for working in the periphery. The residency application was rejected, the indictment says.Hamdan paid to appeal failed Health Ministry licensing examinationsThe second count concerns payments intended to advance appeals against failed Health Ministry licensing examinations in occupational therapy.According to the amended indictment, another defendant, Marwan Rayan, approached Hamdan concerning his son and niece after they took the examinations. When they learned that they had failed, the two submitted appeals.Hamdan admitted arranging for Rayan to pay Dolinsky in return for assistance with those appeals and instructing him to meet the adviser. The indictment describes a payment of an unspecified amount at a January 14, 2019, meeting in Jerusalem, followed by repeated approaches to a Health Ministry employee.The conviction is part of a broader case in which Nissim Cohen, a former parliamentary aide to then-MK Yitzhak Vaknin, previously admitted multiple offenses of accepting bribes and money laundering.Cohen was sentenced earlier this year to two and a half years in prison, subsequently reduced on appeal to 22 months, according to the prosecution.Hamdan's case now moves to sentencing, when the parties will present their agreed request to the court.