Chief Rabbi of Haifa Shear Yashuv Cohen is under investigation and likely to be indicted for alleged bribery and falsifying documents

Cohen is suspected of involvement in the so-called 'Rabbis Affair', in which senior rabbis granted advanced degrees to members of the country's security services. These degrees allowed IDF soldiers, Israeli police officers and Prison Service officers to receive salary raises worth hundreds of millions of shekels. The diplomas were awarded after the security service employees had attended classes for only a few hours a week for two years, but stated that the diploma holder had studied full-time for five years at a religious institute of higher learning. Cohen was previously questioned regarding the affair and witnesses testified to his involvement. But the prosecution decided at that time to close the case against Cohen, and in exchange Cohen agreed to step down from his position as Chief Rabbi of Haifa. Now the prosecution has announced that after it learned that Cohen has continued to perform public duties, it has decided to indict him for the aforementioned crimes.