The State Prosecutor today filed an amended indictment against former Minister of Foreign Affairs Avigdor Liberman with the Jerusalem Magistrates Court. He is charged with fraud and breach of trust in the appointment of Zeev Ben-Arie as Israel's Ambassador to Latvia.
The amended indictment, which was filed with the court secretary, will go to Jerusalem Magistrates Court President Shlomit Dotan. She will then hear the case and either pick the judges for the case or decide to hear the case alone.
Last week, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein published the amended indictment, which is based on evidence supplied by Deputy Minister of Foreign Affairs Danny Ayalon, who will also testify in court.
"The accused is responsible for Israel's foreign service, and in this capacity, he is also responsible for the appointment of ambassadors. He sought to promote the selection of Zeev Ben-Arie by the appointments committee," said a source at the Office of the State Prosecutor when the indictment was published. "He avoided bring to the attention of the committee members, including his deputy, Danny Ayalon, the supply of confidential material affair. As a result of this failure by the accused, the appointments committee lacked critical information that Ben-Arie, in his previous ambassador post, failed by disclosing the contents of a request for legal assistance, acted to disrupt it, thereby seriously violating the trust placed in him."
The Office of the State Prosecutor says that this information included "material information for reviewing Ben-Arie's suitability for such a sensitive post, which is the same as the post where he violated the trust placed in him."
The indictment goes on to state that, after Ben-Arie's appointment as Ambassador to Latvia was approved by the appointment committee, "the accused acted to approve Ben-Arie's appointment by the ministerial committee, by not providing the committee with information about Ben-Arie's failure to fulfill his duties in the the supply of confidential material affair. The approval was granted."
The indictment criticizes Liberman for "the above-mentioned as a public and elected official, during his tenure as foreign minister, were committed during the fulfilling of his duties acts of fraud and breach of trust, which materially harm the public. These acts were committed with a serious conflict of interest between his public duties and his sense of personal obligations, and were committed for the benefit of Ben-Arie, who had provided him with confidential information."
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes-online.com - on December 30, 2012
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