Yehuda Hiss
Encyclopedia
Yehuda Hiss (born c. 1946) is the chief pathologist at the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine and has held this position since 1988. Hiss has also served as part of the faculty for the Terrorism and Medicine Program at the Institute for Counter-Terrorism (ICT) at IDC Herzliya and in the Department of Pathology for the Sackler Faculty of Medicine at Tel Aviv University
.
As director of the Institute at Abu Kabir
, the only place in Israel
authorized to conduct autopsies in cases of unnatural death, Hiss conducted the autopsies of and authored the pathology reports for notable figures, including Yitzhak Rabin
and Rachel Corrie
, among others. His position as director was a subject of controversy. He was dismissed from this position after the legal system took up some of the charges against him. Investigations revealed that Hiss had removed organs, bones and other tissues from corpses, against the expressed wishes of family, and had sold many of the organs he removed to medical institutions and universities. He remained the chief pathologist of the Institute and has since regained his position as director.
shortly after the end of World War II
, Hiss was 10 years old when he arrived in Israel. He later undertook his medical training there, and in Italy
, Austria
, Britain
and the United States
.
after his 1995 assassination; his report was challenged in March 1999 by a group of Israeli academics. In May 2003, he confirmed the identification of the body that washed ashore the beaches of Tel Aviv to be that of Omar Sharif, the accomplice of Asif Hanif, who carried out the Mike's Place suicide bombing the month previous. Hiss told Haaretz
that Sharif's DNA was matched to samples provided by two British detectives and the cause of death was determined to be drowning. He also performed the autopsy on Rachel Corrie
.
A piece featuring Hiss that appeared in The New York Times
in February 2004 noted Hiss played a "unique role" in the response network that Israel had to developed to deal with the more than 100 suicide bombings it had experienced over the three years previous. All the dead from such attacks are brought to the Forensic Institute, and Hiss had been present to attend to, "the dismembered victims and shattered victims," in all but one attack. The same article mentions the controversy surrounding Hiss as follows:
In January 2006, following the carrying out of an autopsy that was ordered by the Israeli courts for a Haredi woman found murdered in her apartment, a riot by dozens of Haredim took place inside the institute where Hiss worked. According to Dr. Benny Davidson, the manager of the institute, "Even in the institute's darkest days, there wasn't an event this big. They wrecked the entire hall, broke expensive equipment, and destroyed (institute director) Yehuda Hiss' room. The public reaction to the articles on the pathological institute was an abandonment of Hiss."
, allegations that Hiss and his lab were taking organs from corpses without permission and using them for research or selling them to medical schools have a long history and were substantiated by the Israeli government. The allegations first appeared in 1998, after Alistair Sinclair, a Scottish tourist apprehended on suspicion of dealing drugs, died in a holding cell at Ben Gurion International Airport
, apparently having hanged himself. After an autopsy overseen by Hiss, the body was returned to his family; a second autopsy performed by pathologists at the University of Glasgow
found that the heart and a small bone at the base of his tongue were missing. Jonathan Rosenblum
reported that the missing bone from his neck was considered necessary to confirming that he had hanged himself as stated, and that the Sinclair family believed his heart had been used for transplant. The scandal was publicized by media in Israel and Scotland after the family sued.
Rosenblum, writing in The Jerusalem Post
in October 2000 regarding a case in which Hiss' testimony played a crucial role, also discussed how Hiss has long been a source of controversy. He related that a 12-page investigative report in November 1999 by the local Tel Aviv
newspaper Ha'ir
stated that medical students at Abu Kabir under Hiss' direction were allowed to practice on bodies sent there for autopsy, and body parts were transferred for transplant use without permission from the families concerned. In January 2001, an investigative report in Yediot Aharonot claimed the institute headed by Hiss had been involved in "organ sales" of body parts to universities and medical schools for research and training, citing evidence including the "price listings" for body parts.
Israel's Ministry of Health convened a committee to investigate the claims which found that Hiss had been involved for years in the sale of illegally removed body parts to medical schools. Rebecca Dube in the Forward
writes that Hiss was never charged with any crime, but was forced to step down from running the state morgue in 2004. According to Dube, "the final straw, apparently, was when the body of a youth killed in a road accident was gnawed upon by a rat in Hiss's lab." Every body that ended up in Hiss' morgue, whether Israeli or Palestinian, was fair game for organ harvesting.
Hiss ceased being the director of the institute in 2005 when allegations of a trade in organs resurfaced. After Hiss admitted to having removed parts from 125 bodies without authorization, and following a plea bargain
with the State of Israel, Israel's attorney-general, decided not to press criminal charges. Hiss was given only a reprimand and continued to hold his position as chief pathologist at Abu Kabir and eventually regained his position as director.
Jonathan Cook
writing in Al-Ahram Weekly
in 2009 recalls Hiss' history in connection with the Aftonbladet allegations
.
Tel Aviv University
Tel Aviv University is a public university located in Ramat Aviv, Tel Aviv, Israel. With nearly 30,000 students, TAU is Israel's largest university.-History:...
.
As director of the Institute at Abu Kabir
Abu Kabir
Abu Kabir was a satellite village of Jaffa founded by Egyptians following Ibrahim Pasha's 1832 defeat of Turkish forces in Ottoman era Palestine. After Israel's establishment in 1948, the area became part of Tel Aviv...
, the only place in Israel
Israel
The State of Israel is a parliamentary republic located in the Middle East, along the eastern shore of the Mediterranean Sea...
authorized to conduct autopsies in cases of unnatural death, Hiss conducted the autopsies of and authored the pathology reports for notable figures, including Yitzhak Rabin
Yitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
and Rachel Corrie
Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
, among others. His position as director was a subject of controversy. He was dismissed from this position after the legal system took up some of the charges against him. Investigations revealed that Hiss had removed organs, bones and other tissues from corpses, against the expressed wishes of family, and had sold many of the organs he removed to medical institutions and universities. He remained the chief pathologist of the Institute and has since regained his position as director.
Early life and medical training
Born in PolandPoland
Poland , officially the Republic of Poland , is a country in Central Europe bordered by Germany to the west; the Czech Republic and Slovakia to the south; Ukraine, Belarus and Lithuania to the east; and the Baltic Sea and Kaliningrad Oblast, a Russian exclave, to the north...
shortly after the end of World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
, Hiss was 10 years old when he arrived in Israel. He later undertook his medical training there, and in Italy
Italy
Italy , officially the Italian Republic languages]] under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages. In each of these, Italy's official name is as follows:;;;;;;;;), is a unitary parliamentary republic in South-Central Europe. To the north it borders France, Switzerland, Austria and...
, Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
, Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
and the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
.
Career
Hiss became the director and chief pathologist at Abu Kabir in 1988. As director of the Institute, Hiss was involved with high profile cases. Hiss performed the autopsy on Yitzhak RabinYitzhak Rabin
' was an Israeli politician, statesman and general. He was the fifth Prime Minister of Israel, serving two terms in office, 1974–77 and 1992 until his assassination in 1995....
after his 1995 assassination; his report was challenged in March 1999 by a group of Israeli academics. In May 2003, he confirmed the identification of the body that washed ashore the beaches of Tel Aviv to be that of Omar Sharif, the accomplice of Asif Hanif, who carried out the Mike's Place suicide bombing the month previous. Hiss told Haaretz
Haaretz
Haaretz is Israel's oldest daily newspaper. It was founded in 1918 and is now published in both Hebrew and English in Berliner format. The English edition is published and sold together with the International Herald Tribune. Both Hebrew and English editions can be read on the Internet...
that Sharif's DNA was matched to samples provided by two British detectives and the cause of death was determined to be drowning. He also performed the autopsy on Rachel Corrie
Rachel Corrie
Rachel Aliene Corrie was an American member of the International Solidarity Movement . She was killed in the Gaza Strip by an Israel Defence Forces bulldozer when she was standing or kneeling in front of a local Palestinian's home, thus acting as a human shield, attempting to prevent the IDF from...
.
A piece featuring Hiss that appeared in The New York Times
The New York Times
The New York Times is an American daily newspaper founded and continuously published in New York City since 1851. The New York Times has won 106 Pulitzer Prizes, the most of any news organization...
in February 2004 noted Hiss played a "unique role" in the response network that Israel had to developed to deal with the more than 100 suicide bombings it had experienced over the three years previous. All the dead from such attacks are brought to the Forensic Institute, and Hiss had been present to attend to, "the dismembered victims and shattered victims," in all but one attack. The same article mentions the controversy surrounding Hiss as follows:
"While the forensic center is praised for its work after bombings, Dr. Hiss has been involved in controversies related to other cases, including allegations that the institute removed organs from corpses without permission from the families. The issue is enormously sensitive because of JudaismJudaismJudaism ) is the "religion, philosophy, and way of life" of the Jewish people...
's emphasis on burying the whole body. Government inquiries have not resulted in any charges against Dr. Hiss. But in December the Israeli attorney general recommended disciplinary action. The issue is still under consideration, and no sanctions have been imposed so far."
In January 2006, following the carrying out of an autopsy that was ordered by the Israeli courts for a Haredi woman found murdered in her apartment, a riot by dozens of Haredim took place inside the institute where Hiss worked. According to Dr. Benny Davidson, the manager of the institute, "Even in the institute's darkest days, there wasn't an event this big. They wrecked the entire hall, broke expensive equipment, and destroyed (institute director) Yehuda Hiss' room. The public reaction to the articles on the pathological institute was an abandonment of Hiss."
Allegations of organ harvesting
According to Rebecca Dube in the ForwardThe Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
, allegations that Hiss and his lab were taking organs from corpses without permission and using them for research or selling them to medical schools have a long history and were substantiated by the Israeli government. The allegations first appeared in 1998, after Alistair Sinclair, a Scottish tourist apprehended on suspicion of dealing drugs, died in a holding cell at Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport
Ben Gurion International Airport , also referred to by its Hebrew acronym Natbag , is the largest and busiest international airport in Israel, handling 12,160,339 passengers in 2010...
, apparently having hanged himself. After an autopsy overseen by Hiss, the body was returned to his family; a second autopsy performed by pathologists at the University of Glasgow
University of Glasgow
The University of Glasgow is the fourth-oldest university in the English-speaking world and one of Scotland's four ancient universities. Located in Glasgow, the university was founded in 1451 and is presently one of seventeen British higher education institutions ranked amongst the top 100 of the...
found that the heart and a small bone at the base of his tongue were missing. Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan Rosenblum
Jonathan Rosenblum is the director, spokesperson, and founder of Jewish Media Resources, an organization which attempts to clarify journalists' understanding of Haredi Jewish society.- Career :...
reported that the missing bone from his neck was considered necessary to confirming that he had hanged himself as stated, and that the Sinclair family believed his heart had been used for transplant. The scandal was publicized by media in Israel and Scotland after the family sued.
Rosenblum, writing in The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post
The Jerusalem Post is an Israeli daily English-language broadsheet newspaper, founded on December 1, 1932 by Gershon Agron as The Palestine Post. The daily readership numbers do not approach those of the major Hebrew newspapers....
in October 2000 regarding a case in which Hiss' testimony played a crucial role, also discussed how Hiss has long been a source of controversy. He related that a 12-page investigative report in November 1999 by the local Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv , officially Tel Aviv-Yafo , is the second most populous city in Israel, with a population of 404,400 on a land area of . The city is located on the Israeli Mediterranean coastline in west-central Israel. It is the largest and most populous city in the metropolitan area of Gush Dan, with...
newspaper Ha'ir
Ha'ir
Ha'ir is a weekly local newspaper published in Tel Aviv, Israel. The tabloid-sized newspaper was first published in October 1980. Since April 2005 when there was a major shakeup in the business structure of newspaper's publisher, Schocken Group, it has been distributed for free.Ha'ir is published...
stated that medical students at Abu Kabir under Hiss' direction were allowed to practice on bodies sent there for autopsy, and body parts were transferred for transplant use without permission from the families concerned. In January 2001, an investigative report in Yediot Aharonot claimed the institute headed by Hiss had been involved in "organ sales" of body parts to universities and medical schools for research and training, citing evidence including the "price listings" for body parts.
Israel's Ministry of Health convened a committee to investigate the claims which found that Hiss had been involved for years in the sale of illegally removed body parts to medical schools. Rebecca Dube in the Forward
The Forward
The Forward , commonly known as The Jewish Daily Forward, is a Jewish-American newspaper published in New York City. The publication began in 1897 as a Yiddish-language daily issued by dissidents from the Socialist Labor Party of Daniel DeLeon...
writes that Hiss was never charged with any crime, but was forced to step down from running the state morgue in 2004. According to Dube, "the final straw, apparently, was when the body of a youth killed in a road accident was gnawed upon by a rat in Hiss's lab." Every body that ended up in Hiss' morgue, whether Israeli or Palestinian, was fair game for organ harvesting.
Hiss ceased being the director of the institute in 2005 when allegations of a trade in organs resurfaced. After Hiss admitted to having removed parts from 125 bodies without authorization, and following a plea bargain
Plea bargain
A plea bargain is an agreement in a criminal case whereby the prosecutor offers the defendant the opportunity to plead guilty, usually to a lesser charge or to the original criminal charge with a recommendation of a lighter than the maximum sentence.A plea bargain allows criminal defendants to...
with the State of Israel, Israel's attorney-general, decided not to press criminal charges. Hiss was given only a reprimand and continued to hold his position as chief pathologist at Abu Kabir and eventually regained his position as director.
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook
Jonathan Cook is a British writer and a freelance journalist based in Nazareth, Israel, who writes about the Middle East, and more specifically, the Israeli-Palestinian conflict.-Background:...
writing in Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Ahram Weekly
Al-Ahram Weekly is an Egyptian English-language weekly broadsheet printed by the Al-Ahram Publishing House in Cairo, Egypt.It was established in 1991 by the Al-Ahram newspaper, which also runs a French-language weekly version, Al-Ahram Hebdo....
in 2009 recalls Hiss' history in connection with the Aftonbladet allegations
2009 Aftonbladet Israel controversy
The Aftonbladet-Israel controversy refers to the controversy that followed the publication of a 17 August 2009 article in the Swedish tabloid Aftonbladet alleging that Israeli troops harvested organs from Palestinians that died in their custody. The article sparked a fierce debate in Sweden and...
.
Medical publications co-authored by Hiss
- Corpora amylacea in mesothelioma of the atrioventricular node (1977), The Journal of Pathology (124: 2)
- Progressive spastic paraparesis, vitiligo, premature graying, and distinct facial appearance: A new genetic syndrome in 3 sibs (1981), American Journal of Medical Genetics (9:4)
- Sarcoidosis and Hashimoto's Thyroiditis - A Chance Occurrence? (1985), Respiration: International Journal of Thoracic Medicine (48:2)
- Does Prolonged Use of Diphenylhydantoin Predispose to Pulmonary Sarcoidosis? (1986), European Neurology (25:4)
- Hemoptysis as the presenting manifestation of sarcoidosis (June 1987), Chest (91:931b-931)
- The Feasibility of In Vivo Resection on the Left Lobe of the Liver and Its Use for Transplanation (July 1989), Transplantation (48:1)
- Intestinal Anastomosis Healing in Rat: Collagen Concentration and Histochemical Characterization by Picrosirius Red Staining and Polarizing Microscopy (June 1995), Experimental and Molecular Pathology (62:3)
- Immunohistochemical Localization of Gonadotropin and Gonadal Steroid Receptors in Human Pineal Glands (1997), The Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism (82:3)
- Evidence for the involvement of the hippocampus in the pathophysiology of schizophrenia (September 2000), European Neuropsychopharmacology (10:5)
- Focal lymphocytic infiltration in aging human palatal salivary glands: a comparative study with labial salivary glands (January 2001), Journal of Oral Pathology & Medicine (30:1)
- http://www.sciencedirect.com/science?_ob=ArticleURL&_udi=B6T6J-45JH2YG-1&_user=10&_rdoc=1&_fmt=&_orig=search&_sort=d&_docanchor=&view=c&_searchStrId=1031765650&_rerunOrigin=google&_acct=C000050221&_version=1&_urlVersion=0&_userid=10&md5=20c5eae4316b2f715825ff146432f8a5Age-related changes in proliferative markers in labial salivary glands: a study of argyrophilic nucleolar organizer regions (AgNORs) and Ki-67] (June 2002), Experimental Gerontology (37:6)
- Age-related basement membrane thickening of the vocal cords in sudden infant death syndrome (SIDS) (January 2009), The Laryngoscope (104:7)
- The Role of Forensic Anthropology in Mass Fatality Incidents Management (August 2009), Forensic Science Policy and Management (1:3)