By Deep Bris, Former Mossad Agent

It could happen to anyone.

One day you're a respectable real-estate developer. Then, almost overnight, you and your business partner owe $500,000 to Israeli mobsters. And the mobsters are physically threatening to throw your business partner off a high-rise balcony because you haven't paid them back. And then your partner, whom who you thought was a reputable businessman like you, gets accused of selling ecstasy. And then he flees to Panama. And now you're on the hook to the Israeli mobsters for the whole $500,000. And you have to mortgage your home. And just when it seems things couldn't get any worse, the feds are accusing you of dealing drugs!

And all you wanted was to make Syracuse the best darned city it can be.

I'm speaking, of course, of Miami mystery developer Eli Hadad, the man who bought downtown Syracuse but appears to have no plan for it other than to avoid paying property taxes.

As Hadad and his lawyer explained in a Page 1 story two Sundays ago, Hadad didn't know he and his partner were borrowing 500 large from a top Israeli mobster a few years back. He didn't know his business partner at the time was a drug dealer. And he certainly never sold drugs himself, which is why federal charges against him in Los Angeles were dismissed. Surely the dismissal had nothing to do with him singing like Pavarotti when prosecutors needed his "cooperation" against five co-defendants.

Yet mention the poor guy's name around here and eyes roll. Even his local manservant, recent mayoral aide Charles "Hava Nagila" Vinal, seems to be distancing himself from his new boss.

"I am shocked by this," Vinal told the paper after hearing about Hadad's - how can we put this delicately? - underworld connections. "I certainly will have to have a conversation with Eli."

Certainly.

Um, Mr. Hadad, there's something we need to discuss. Mind if we step in off the balcony?

Personally, I'm weary of the whisper campaign against Hadad. The architect of a reborn downtown Syracuse has suffered terribly. It's time we send a little love his way. How does this sound? At noon today, if you happen to be operating a motor vehicle, honk your horn as a gesture of support. Nothing too overbearing - just a quick blow, so to speak, to show the world that Syracuse won't let its premier deadbeat landlord be intimidated by organized crime. A moment of intense community bonding such as this is ecstasy what [jho: should it read "ecstasy - just what" ?: ]Syracuse needs. I mean exactly.[jho: Is this sentence cut off?: ]

Meanwhile, I'm urging all local business people to take steps to avoid being victimized as Hadad was. Only borrow large amounts of money from a bank versus an individual. Loans from individuals, particularly ones with names like "Machine Gun YitzachYitzhak" or "Three Finger PearlmanPerlman" often contain stiff late penalties, such as ears.

You can also avoid complications by asking your prospective business partners point-blank if they deal drugs. If their reply is, "What's your pleasure, big man?" think about extending your search.