Corruption probe into Israel’s UN envoy closed for lack of evidence

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decided on Thursday to close the nearly two-year investigation into allegations of corruption against Israel’s envoy to the UN, saying there wasn’t evidence of wrongdoing on Ambassador Danny Danon’s part.

The suspicions were first raised in a Channel 12 report in November 2017 that claimed Danon had allegedly built a political apparatus through a nonprofit that gave jobs to Likud activists in exchange for political support in the party — at a time when he served as a member of the Knesset for Likud.

Danon was at the time head of World Likud, the Likud party’s international arm, and was alleged to have used the nonprofit Osim Tzionut (“Doing Zionism”), part of the Israel Zionist Council which is a member of the World Zionist Organization, to conduct these activities. The report also alleged that the nonprofit paid for consultants and public relations expenses for Danon’s political activities.

The report included audio recordings of employees at the nonprofit making the accusations against him.

After the report aired, investigators in the police’s Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit launched a criminal probe.

But the police soon concluded that there was no evident wrongdoing in Danon’s activities. The investigation found that activists close to Danon’s political work in Likud were also involved in the work of the nonprofit, which dealt with advocacy on similar issues. However, in the investigators’ conclusion, submitted to the state prosecution, they said no evidence was found of a financial quid pro quo, either in the employment of activists or in the consultancy expenditures, that could constitute corruption.

Prosecutors agreed and joined the police recommendation to close the case.

On Thursday, the attorney general accepted the recommendation and ordered the investigation closed.