[RBS] Bureaucracy gone Berserk!

[Rivka Ester Rothstein]

I often wince when I read others' personal experiences with various
hassles, but now I turn to the list in the hope that indeed someone will
be able to direct me to the proper avenue of assistance.

Almost two years ago I received a ticket for allegedly running a red
light in Jerusalem.  The amount of the fine - 1000 nis - was great
enough for me to decide to take the matter to court.  I sat in a room
full of Arabs, a few Sephardi men, and stood out as the only Ashkenazi
woman on my side of the courtroom.  The judge was impressive in his
mastery of three languages.  Interestingly enough, every single Arab -
many of whom had returned for multiple driving offenses - agreed to have
their licenses suspended for the interim.  I was too naïve to 'get' it,
and merely asked that the court take into consideration my particular
financial situation and reduce the fine. The judge pounced on me,
declared that I should either lose my license for some period of time,
or pay the full fine.  Again, too dumb to just catch on to the game I'd
just seen played out a dozen times before me, I chose to pay the fine in
five payments. 

When I began to receive threatening notices from the "merkaz l'gviyat
knasot" for non-payment, I simply imagined they were faulty in their
record keeping, and called them to ask what to do.  I finally had to
make copies of all of the payment notices, sent them a registered
letter, and asked them to correct their records.  That letter was sent
last December 2009.

I've just been informed that they've put an ikul on my bank account!!

Is there no other office where I can contest their harassment? They now
want to take an additional almost 800 nis!

I consider myself to be an old-timer here, but this one has me stumped!
Please only respond if you have a real address to whom to refer me.

Thanks in advance,

~Rivka Ester Rothstein 
02-999-3470