BICOM

It was announced yesterday that Israel’s Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will be charged with bribery and breach of trust, but not fraud and money-laundering connected to a related case.

Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein’s long-awaited report yesterday described inadequate proof that Lieberman had fraudulently received millions of shekels from international businessmen through a network of nominal companies. As a result, charges of fraud and money-laundering will not be pressed. However, Lieberman will face lesser charges of bribery and breach of trust, as he is accused of receiving confidential information from Israel’s former ambassador to Belarus relating to the investigation into his business dealings and subsequently rewarding the ambassador by endorsing his career advancement.

Lieberman, who is head of the Yisrael Beitenu party, denied the allegations at a party event yesterday. Talking about his future in the wake of the legal case ahead, he said “According to the legal opinion given to me, I do not have to resign… A final decision will be made after consultation with my lawyers and in the consideration of not hurting the voting public.”

The Israeli courts have previously ruled that if a sitting cabinet member is charged with what are deemed to be “serious offenses,” then they must resign or be dismissed by the prime minister. However, it remains unclear whether the charges faced by Lieberman fall into this category or not.

The announcement of the charges against Lieberman comes just weeks before an election in which his Yisrael Beitenu party, running on a joint list with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party, looks set to win a comfortable victory. Netanyahu commented yesterday, “I wish him [Lieberman] the best in proving his innocence on the single issue that is left.”

However, Lieberman’s political opponents uniformly called for his resignation in the wake of the announcement. Labour Party leader Shelly Yachimovich said, “Avigdor Lieberman needs to resign this minute…If not, Netanyahu should fire him and name another candidate in his place on the list.” Meanwhile, Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid commented that it is “unthinkable” for Lieberman to “continue to serve in the government and represent Israel to the world,” given that he “so materially caused harm to the public.”