Israel’s former ambassador to Belarus will appear in court
- The Times of Israel
- 2.05.2012, 10:16
Israel’s former ambassador to Belarus, Ze’ev Ben Aryeh, was indicted in the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Tuesday on charges of obstruction of justice and breach of public trust.
As part of a plea bargain, Ben Aryeh admitted passing classified Justice Ministry documents in 2008 to Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman (Yisrael Beiteinu), who was at the time an MK. The documents regarded the ongoing investigation into Liberman for allegedly receiving millions of dollars in bribes from businessmen.
Ben Aryeh was Israel’s envoy to Belarus from 2004 to 2009, and as such he is believed by police to have had access to a 2008 Justice Ministry request via the Foreign Ministry for information from Belarus authorities connected to the Liberman investigation.
In October 2008 Liberman visited the embassy and met with Ben Aryeh, who has now admitted to passing on the information contained in the documents, including the complete list of police accusations against Liberman and a significant amount of the evidence that had been collected by that point. The Justice Ministry sought to investigate Belarusian bank accounts, most of which were registered with local companies.
As part of the plea bargain arrangement filed by the State Prosecutor’s Office on Tuesday, Ben Aryeh would serve four to six months’ imprisonment, which may be converted to community service, as well as a probationary period to be determined by the court.
On Monday, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced that the decision whether to press charges against Liberman is expected to be made in the coming weeks, prior to the upcoming general elections.
Should Liberman be convicted, he would not be able to serve in the next government. If the proceedings end in a plea bargain, he would have to retire for one term. Liberman has denied any wrongdoing.