Israel’s attorney general announced this week that he plans to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on corruption charges but will allow him a standard final hearing before a charge sheet is issued.
If Lieberman is indicted, it would legally force him to resign, badly shaking the coalition government of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, possibly forcing an election and putting already stalled Israel-Palestinian peace efforts off for many months.
The statement from Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein said Lieberman would be indicted on charges of breach of trust, aggravated fraud, money laundering and harassing a witness. Lieberman denied the allegations.
A hard-line member of Netanyahu’s Cabinet, Lieberman has been under investigation for years.
Lieberman briefly referred to the indictment during a Yisrael Beiteinu party gathering April 13.
“I know and you know that I always acted in accordance with the law, and there is no reason for worry,” Lieberman said. “After 15 years, I finally will have an opportunity to prove that I acted lawfully.”
The attorney general said the charges against Lieberman involved “control of companies where funds were transferred in the millions of dollars.” Lieberman is suspected of illictly receiving money and laundering it through shell companies.
The breach of trust suspicion refers to the case of a former Israeli ambassador to Belarus who is said to have shown him secret documents from the investigation against him.
Lieberman would not be charged with bribery, as police recommended 18 months ago. Israeli legal expert Moshe Negbi said the money laundering charge carried a maximum 10-year prison term.
In Israel, a high official is given the opportunity to argue his case before the attorney general before an indictment is issued, but such a hearing has yet to lead to the dropping of serious charges. — ap