Israel Police National Serious and International Crimes Unit investigators arrested Israel Consul General to the Netherlands Uriel Yitzhaki on suspicion of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges.
Yitzhaki was arrested at Ben Gurion Airport upon arriving in Israel for the Passover holiday. He was brought before the Petah Tikva Magistrates Court this morning for remand.
Judge Lia Lev On remanded Yitzaki for five days, ruling that she had been shown material evidence of the alleged crimes attributed to him. She rejected a request by Yitzhaki's attorney, Adv. Dr. Jacob Weinroth, for house arrest, due to Yitzhaki's medical condition.
Yitzhaki is suspected of issuing 150 duplicate Israeli passports over the past two years to people who were not entitled to them, in exchange for tens of thousands of dollars and other perks, including stays at luxury hotels.
The police believe that Yitzhaki sold passports to foreigners for $2,500 each, in violation of consular laws and procedures. Yitzhaki reported as if the passports had been issued in the Netherlands, while in fact they were issued in Israel in other peoples' names.
A police source told "Globes" that Yitzhaki apparently received help from other sources in the Netherlands, although apparently not from other consular staff. The source said the investigators had not tried to locate the foreign citizens who had bought the passports.
Yitzhaki was appointed consul general to The Hague in August 2002, after serving in New York, Vienna, Nairobi, and Singapore.
The Ministry of Foreign Affairs declined to comment today.
Published by Globes [online], Israel business news - www.globes.co.il - on April 20, 2005