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Once Again, Israel is Refusing to Extradite an Accused Criminal
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Two decades ago, Israel refused to extradite Samuel Sheinbein to the U.S. to stand trial for murdering and dismembering Alfredo Enrique Tello Jr.
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According to an article published on July 15, 2021 in the New York Times, Israel is once again refusing to extradite an accused criminal so he can stand trial.
Mexican authorities have accused Tomás Zerón de Lucio, the former director of Mexico’s version of the F.B.I., of abduction, torture and tampering with evidence in the investigation into the disappearance of 43 students in 2014, and of embezzling about $50 million in state funds in another case.
According to an Israeli official interviewed by the New York Times, Israel has refused to extradite Zerón because of Mexico’s criticism of the self-professed Jewish state. Mexico has supported resolutions criticizing Israel at the United Nations Human Rights Council, including decisions to investigate Israel’s killing of Palestinian protesters in Gaza in 2018 and the killing of civilians in Gaza during Israel’s May assault on Gaza. Israel’s tit-for-tat policy penalizes countries that oppose its government’s policies.
Israel also refused to extradite 17-year-old Samuel Sheinbein, whose father helped him flee to Israel after murdering, dismembering and burning the body of Alfredo Enrique Tello Jr., in a Maryland suburb of Washington, DC in 1997. (See Washington Report on Middle East Affairs, December 1997, Pages 61-63.) Sheinbein’s father was disbarred from practicing law. (Israeli police shot dead Sheinbein on Feb. 23, 2014 after he wounded three guards with a pistol at a jail near Tel Aviv.) The Sheinbein case prompted calls for an end to U.S. aid to Israel.
The United States has never been accused of opposing Israeli government policies so their defiance couldn’t have been part of Israel’s tit-for-tat policy. But back to Mexico….
Ronen Bergman and Oscar Lopez write in the New York Times that Zerón authorized the purchase of tens of millions of dollars in surveillance systems from private intelligence companies, including Pegasus, developed by Israel. Mexico is also investigating whether Zerón embezzled more than $50 million, earmarked for the purchase of defense and intelligence gear that was never delivered. It is not clear whether those deals involved the Israeli intelligence companies or if Zerón’s connections to powerful Israeli companies may have helped him flee Mexico.
Israel's disregard for the law knows no bounds.
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