Top PM aide named in graft investigation

Netanyahu’s parliamentary adviser, Perach Lerner, suspected of using her position to help husband’s PR firm

By ToI Staff 3 October 2015, 6:32 am

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Perach Lerner, adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (L), speaks with then-Likud MK Carmel Shama-Hacohen in the Knesset on July 25, 2011 (Kobi Gideon / Flash90)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary adviser Perach Lerner was named Friday as the aide being probed on allegations of fraud and breach of trust

Lerner, a confidante of the premier, was questioned by the police on Wednesday for eight hours. She is alleged to have used her position to advance the interests of a public relations firm owned by her husband, Avi, who was also interrogated.

In recent days police searched the couple’s home as well as Avi’s office, and seized computers and documents.

Lerner has been described by financial daily The Marker as one of the “most powerful women in Likud” and one of the “few top-tier female officials in the prime minister’s inner circle.”