Israeli police indicate that Avigdor Lieberman’s indictment is near. For months, rumors have swirled about charges of moneylaundering, influence peddling and outright corruption. Now the moment that many of us have been waiting for:
Police are close to submitting a recommendation to indict Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud, money laundering, breach of trust and obstruction of justice, sources involved in the investigation said.
According to a police source the investigation is “practically over,” and the body of evidence is sufficient to support an indictment on the charges.
The Haaretz story fleshes out many of the charges against Lieberman:
…The indictment taking shape suggests Lieberman managed a well-oiled business machine through front men even after taking public office, and made millions of dollars. Lieberman and his associates are suspected of establishing several companies, some of them shell companies, in order to launder millions of shekels and funnel them into his own pockets. Police have investigated whether Lieberman continued running these alleged operations even after becoming a public official.
In addition, police believe Lieberman and his associates tried to obstruct the police investigation in at least three separate instances, by changing the names of companies he allegedly established in Cyprus after he suspected the police had identified them.
…Haaretz has learned that Lieberman earned more than NIS 2.5 million as a salaried employee of his daughter’s company from 2004-2006, when he was neither a Knesset member nor a cabinet minister. According to information obtained by Haaretz, between 2004 and 2007 the company headed by Michal Lieberman, M.L. 1, received NIS 11 million from anonymous sources overseas for “business consulting.”
Another Haaretz probe revealed that in 2001 an Austrian company owned by Jewish gambling tycoon Martin Schlaff transferred $650,000 to a Cypriot company, Trasimeno Trading, which police believe was controlled by Lieberman.
This is yet another tawdry episode documenting the corruption at the heart of Israeli politics (especially Israeli right-wing politics, viz. Olmert’s earlier indictment on similar charges). If the indictment happens, pressure will mount for Lieberman to resign. When (not if) he does so, Bibi will have an opportunity to reshape his governing coalition by possibly approaching Tzipi Livni to join his government. It remains to be seen whether either Bibi or Livni would want to do this. But if he did and she accepted, then there might be some possibility of forming a government that could actually reciprocate Obama administration entreaties for Israeli moderation regarding settlements and peace negotiations. But the likelihood of a Bibi approach to Tzipi, her acceptance, and an actual moderation of Israeli policy is very small.
And though we may lose Lieberman from the Israeli political scene, unfortunately there are a hundred more mediocrities just like him or worse lining up to take his place. The cesspoool that is Israeli politics can’t be cleaned up by the removal of a single corrupt individual, just as the right-wing political mafia can’t be dented by the toppling from power of a single individual, no matter how noxious he might be.
What I would welcome though about a Lieberman indictment is that it would send his ambition to be prime minister absolutely off the rails. Those of us who did not relish an out and out Kahanist taking the reins of government will be relieved at least in this small achievment .
>And though we may lose Lieberman from the Israeli political scene, unfortunately there are a hundred more mediocrities just like him or worse lining up to take his place. The cesspoool that is Israeli politics can’t be cleaned up by the removal of a single corrupt individual, just as the right-wing political mafia can’t be dented by the toppling from power of a single individual, no matter how noxious he might be.<
Cannot really add to that! Other than I see the mediocrity, par excellence, Ehud Barak, is planning a new offensive after his amazing victory against the unarmed civilians in Gaza, this time against Iran. However, there could be a small problem, that is, the Iranians have an army.
“out and out Kahanist”
Rip him all you like wrt his policies re: Nakba education & loyalty, but Liberman’s repeated claims of having no issues with two states and the division of Jerusalem don’t put him in Kahane’s league at all.
Again, the operative phrase is Lieberman’s “repeated claims of having no issues…” It is easy to say what you’re in favor of & it means essentially nothing in an Israeli political context. Besides, Lieberman’s Palestinian state would be a Bantustan and unworthy of the name “state.” It would also be founded on the forced relocation (i.e. transfer) of hundreds of thousands of Israeli citizens to another state. This is a Kahanist concept & violation of international law. Lieberman was a member of a Kahane group when he first came to Israel and he still harbors similar views.
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Laura David; I don’t know which media you read or watch. It has been evidenced that it was the IDF that used Palestinian civilians as human shields. In the process 305 Palestinian children were killed and over 100 of their mothers. The IDF claimed that these unarmed civilians were a dangerous threat to the heavily armed Israeli army with tanks, missiles, cluster bombs and white phosphorus.
There is currently an investigation by the UN into these alleged war crimes but the IDF refuse to co-operate. You may not be ashamed, but we are.
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Dear simple Laura: It is the same UN that passed a resolution in 1948 for the establishment of a Jewish State in Israel.
THAT UN!
And it’s the UN report finding that is awaited that will detail the incidence of human shields used by the IDF, in Gaza.
It is always possible to jump and down in order to try to avoid the facts – but truth finally always wins over propaganda.
RE: “Israeli police indicate that Avigdor Lieberman’s indictment is near.”
MY COMMENT: Hang in there, Avigdor. Remember your days as a tough guy bouncer in Moldova. Never give up! Never give up! Never give up! Hold on to your cabinet position and make them prove these scurrilous, politically-motivated allegations in a court of law!
PS. No insinuations or generalizations were intended by the preceding comment.
It’s interesting that what might take down Avigdor Lieberman is garden-variety corruption and gangsterism (sounds like the regular order of business of Israeli politics, frankly) and not the fact that he is a fascist who occupies one of the highest posts in the country. Lieberman makes Jorg Haider look like the friggin’ ACLU.
But, you know, in a perverse unhealthy way, there’s something I almost appreciate about Lieberman. You get a bit of Israeli truth-in-advertising with Lieberman in the sense that he represents an important, significant and very influential swath of Israeli society and politics, and I think it’s useful for the world to see what that looks like. And hopefully, then, confront what they see.
Lieberman’s the Arab-hating Greater Israel-espousing Real Deal, so to speak, and he just can’t hide it. Labor and people like Tzipi Livni are much better at cloaking their militarism and apartheid policies and goals under a welter of shiny, distracting rhetoric.
“Labor and people like Tzipi Livni are much better at cloaking their militarism and apartheid policies and goals under a welter of shiny, distracting rhetoric.”
Indeed! In fact, in terms of deeds and results Labour has been no better on Palestinians and Palestine than the others. In fact, there was a time when the saying was that while the right talked about colonizing the OPT, Labour was busy actually doing it.
Politics in Israel will change.
Its possible that the Netanyahu government will be forced to re-organize.
But it will still be a Netanyahu government.
Maybe it would be led by Kadima.
And how would that be any better other than that they are clever enough to try to hide their agenda beneath nicer-sounding words?
Witty, when you say politics in Israel will change, what does that mean, substantively. Will the on-going siege of Gaza end with this “change” in politics you predict? Will the Palestinians (one might even broaden this to non-Jews generally) be treated like full human beings in Israel and the OPT with a political change?
You’ve never to my knowledge declared your opposition to, much less horror at, the current blockade of Gaza. Is it okay with you that Palestinian children are slowly dying of malnutrition, slow starvation and disease because of this blockade? This is happening right now. Without taking a robust ethical stand on this issue, your fortune cookie generalizations become rather empty formulations.