Shorts: Mideast

Case against foreign minister moves forward

Significant progress has been made in the case against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, Israeli police sources said this week.

The comments came after National Fraud Unit investigators questioned Lieberman over suspicions of fraud, bribery, breach of public trust and fraudulent receipt of goods for five and a half hours May 27.

It was the foreign minister’s fifth such interrogation session.

The sources said that multiple testimonies have been made against Lieberman, and that police would recommend that he be indicted.

Police are believed to be in the final stage of the investigation against him and are expected to pass their findings soon to state prosecutors who have been following the investigation.

Police also suspect Lieberman of accepting hundreds of thousands of dollars in bribes between 2001 and 2004 while serving as national infrastructures minister and transportation minister, allegedly receiving the funds from two businessmen. — the jerusalem post

Murderer of teen confesses

An Arab-Israeli man has confessed to killing Dana Bennett, an American-Israeli teenager whose remains were found last week, six years after she disappeared in Tiberias after finishing her shift at a local restaurant.

After a gag order was lifted on the case May 26, police said that Adwan Yahiya Farhan, 34, of the northern Israeli Arab village of Wadi Hamam confessed to the murder and re-enacted it.

Farhan, who is in jail, also confessed to several other murders, rapes and the attempted honor killing of his sister, according to police. “Dana Bennett was kidnapped and murdered, but was not raped,” area Police Chief Avi Algarissi said this week. — jta

Olmert to have surgery in N.Y.

Former Israeli prime minister Ehud Olmert is scheduled to have prostate cancer surgery at an unnamed New York hospital in June, according to reports.

Olmert went public with his cancer in October 2007. Last month his office announc-ed that tests showed the disease had worsened and re-quired treatment.

Olmert’s attorneys have attempted to delay proceedings in several corruption scandals while Olmert is treated. Olmert resigned from office last July over the scandals and left office in March. — jta

Gay Palestinian seeks Israel visa

A 30-year-old Palestinian man who has resided in Israel with his partner for the past seven years has filed a petition with the High Court of Justice asking to prevent his deportation to the Palestinian territories.

The Palestinian and his partner claim deportation would put him at serious risk of being arrested and tortured at the hands of Palestinian security forces, as well as persecution by his extended family because of his sexual orientation and the fact that his partner is an Israeli.

The petition also says the Palestinian man has been suspected of collaboration with Israel in the past, which would also put him in harm’s way if he is returned to his previous home. Originally from Nablus, the man says he was harassed in the past by Palestinian security officers. — ynetnews.com