Final_Judgment

154 Israel’s Godfather [93]
pressure was such that there was widespread clamor for his deportation. It
didn't help matters that fearless crime reporter Hank Messick's biography of
Lansky appeared during that same period and portions of it appeared in the
Israeli press. Lansky himself made his own loyalties clear, however. In a
friendly series of interviews with Ma'ariv, an Israeli daily, Lansky said, "I
don't care what they wrote and write about me in America. I care what they
think of me in Israel." 255
Between the public outcry in Israel and pressure from American
authorities, the Israel government buckled and agreed to expel Lansky.
However, the "boss of all bosses" appealed his expulsion all the way to the
Israeli Supreme Court. The emotional issue of a Jew who had made
"aliyah" and settled in Israel under the Law of Return—and who was then
being expelled to face possible punishment in a criminal court in another
country—played heavily in Lansky's favor. However, despite Lansky's best
efforts—including an offer of $10,000,000 if he was permitted to
remain—he was forced to return to the United States.
LANSKY IN DECLINE
By this time, Lansky was in ill health and even underwent open-heart
surgery. However, as the Wall Street Journal noted: "Whenever the heat
[was] on—an investigation made public, a grand jury inquiry, a new task
force of federal crime fighters on his trail—stories suddenly abound that
Meyer Lansky is dying of cancer or some other terminal illness. In the files
of the New York State Police, there exists a report made out in the 1920's
that says Meyer Lansky is a bad guy, all right, but there's no need to worry
because he's a sickly man who won't live out the year." 256
But Lansky's traditional magical powers over the American criminal
justice system were still with him. First of all, a jury in his home base of
Miami acquitted him on the income tax evasion charges. Then, in mobcontrolled
Nevada, the criminal charges against Lansky were thrown out of
court on the basis that Lansky was in ill health. And in Washington, U.S.
Solicitor General Robert Bork decided that going after Lansky—the ruling
boss of international organized crime—was not in the nation's best
interests. Bork decided that the Justice Department just didn't have a case
against Lansky. The case was dropped. 257 Lansky had once again
prevailed—to nobody's surprise.
(Bork later suffered an ignominious rejection by the Senate when
nominated for the Supreme Court. However, it was not Bork's pandering to
Lansky that weighed against him—although it probably should have.)
Lansky's remaining years were quiet ones spent with his wife and dog
and an assortment of other aging racketeers. He still maintained some
oversight over his business operations but increasing health problems
continued to plague him. The mastermind behind the global crime syndicate
finally died on January 15, 1983.