The Justice Ministry announced Tuesday it would postpone filing an indictment against former foreign minister Avigdor Liberman.
The indictment for fraud and breach of trust charges, to have been served on Tuesday, will be served within a few days, the office said in a statement. No reason was given for the delay.
Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein announced last week that he would indict the Yisrael Beytenu head on criminal charges for having received classified prosecution documents, related to his investigation on fraud and money laundering charges, from the former ambassador to Belarus, Ze’ev Ben Aryeh. Liberman then allegedly sought to reward Ben Aryeh for helping him by having Ben Aryeh appointed to a second ambassadorship — an appointment that did not ultimately occur.
Liberman resigned as foreign minister in response to the charges, taking leave of his post Tuesday morning, although he remains a Knesset member and leader of Yisrael Beytenu. He has said repeatedly that he hopes to clear up the issue before the January 22 general election.
A far more substantial case against Liberman, over alleged money laundering by shell companies throughout the late ’90s and early 2000s, was closed due to lack of evidence.
Get The Times of Israel's Daily Edition
by email and never miss our top stories
By signing up, you agree to the
terms
We can't do this work alone.
The war with Iran has been draining for all of us in Israel. But when I heard about a high casualty incident – ballistic missile impacts in Arad and Dimona that left nearly 200 people wounded – I drank a cup of coffee, packed a bag, and headed south.
There, I spoke with Shilgit, the head of an after-school program for underprivileged youth. Standing outside her destroyed center, Shilgit said it was a miracle that no children were hurt and spoke about the community coming together in the hours since.
As a Times of Israel reporter, I’m committed to telling stories of resilience like Shilgit’s. But my colleagues and I can't do this alone. If you value work like this, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to keep real human reporting like this going.
— Stav Levaton, military reporter
Yes, I'll join
Yes, I'll join
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
You're a dedicated reader
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you,
David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
Join Our Community
Join Our Community
Already a member? Sign in to stop seeing this
