Israeli police have recommended charging the country's hardline foreign minister, Avigdor Lieberman, with several counts of corruption as part of a bribery investigation, in a move that could lead to his resignation and a significant government reshuffle.
Lieberman, head of a popular far-right party, is suspected of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and obstruction of justice in a case dating back over nine years. If charged and convicted on all counts he faces up to 31 years in jail.
Todayhe defended himself, saying the case against him was politically motivated and that he was innocent on all counts.
According to the Ha'aretz newspaper, Lieberman and his aides are accused of using front companies, some in Cyprus, to launder money and of obstructing the police inquiry by changing the company names during the investigation. He continued the business operation after he became a minister, the newspaper said.
Other Israeli press reports suggest he has been investigated for suspected illegal campaign financing and receiving money from a business tycoon.
Police have also reportedly investigated his relationship with a prominent Israeli diamond tycoon who has interests in the Democratic Republic of the Congo.
An immigrant from the former Soviet Union, Lieberman, 50, now lives in a settlement in the occupied West Bank. He has been under investigation since 2006, though that has done little to dampen his electoral appeal. His party, Yisrael Beiteinu (Israel Our Home), campaigned on a tough anti-Arab platform and came in a surprisingly strong third in February's general elections, elevating the populist Lieberman to the heart of prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu's cabinet.
Since then the investigation against him has intensified. The case now passes to Israel's attorney general, Menachem Mazuz, who in the coming weeks or months will decide whether or not to charge the minister. Mazuz has already made clear his concerns about Lieberman. Two months ago he criticised his appointment as foreign minister at a time when he was already under police investigation. "A properly run country should not reach such a situation," Mazuz said at the time.
Lieberman is the latest in a list of Israeli politicians who have faced corruption investigations. Among them is Ehud Olmert who had to resign as prime minister and who is still under investigation.
A decision on whether Lieberman will be charged will not come quickly. But if he is indicted it could be enough to force his resignation, which in turn would force a cabinet reshuffle. His party has 15 seats in the 120-seat Israeli parliament and is a key element in the rightwing coalition. It is influential and has already proposed several new laws, most curbing the activities of Israel's Arab minority
A government without Lieberman would be less rightwing, although his party would try to stay in the coalition without its leader. Lieberman could be replaced by a senior figure from Netanyahu's Likud party, or his departure could open the door for the return to the cabinet of Tzipi Livni, the more centrist former foreign minister whose Kadima party won the election but failed to form a coalition government. She is more interested in talks with the Palestinians on a two-state peace agreement to end the conflict.
Today Lieberman said in a statement: "For 13 years the police have conducted a campaign of persecution against me. As much as my political strength and the strength of Yisrael Beiteinu rise, the campaign of persecution also intensifies.
"In a country governed by civil laws, a person – even if he is a minister – is innocent until proven guilty."
Police have also investigated Lieberman's daughter, Michal, who reportedly ran a company that paid her father a salary. She was briefly detained with some of Lieberman's aides by police.
Ynet, the website of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper, said police believed Lieberman had pocketed more than $2m (£1.2m) while he was a minister in recent years.
0 comments:
Post a Comment