Culture minister interrogated by police for 3rd time in labor federation graft probe

Culture and Sports Minister Miki Zohar was once again questioned under caution by police as part of a major corruption investigation into the Histadrut, Israel’s main labor federation, on Monday, his third such interview about the affair.

The Likud minister was first interrogated last month by investigators in the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit about his ties to the main suspect in the case, Ezra Gabay.

According to Haaretz, Zohar is suspected of receiving a bribe from Gabay, an insurance agent and veteran Likud activist.

Police suspect Gabay of exploiting his close connections to Histadrut chairman Arnon Bar-David and Likud party officials to secure senior jobs in government-owned corporations and local authorities, in exchange for landing insurance contracts with labor unions as well as municipalities and their workers.

Zohar’s lawyer, Tal Gabay, confirmed the summons to several Hebrew outlets, saying that his client arrived at Lahav 443’s headquarters to complete his interrogation.

“Minister Zohar reiterates that he is not related to the Histadrut affair in any way,” the lawyer told Haaretz.

Police did not put out a statement announcing the summons.

Zohar’s name came up in the case after Kiryat Gat mayor Kfir Suissa was summoned for questioning, the Ynet news site reported last month.

Suissa, a close associate of Zohar, had previously served as the director general of the Culture and Sports Ministry.

Suissa was questioned in November on suspicion of transferring city employee insurance contracts to Gabay’s agency in exchange for political favors. He has denied the allegations and noted that he had not been arrested.

In November, police detained a number of senior officials in the Histadrut, including Chairman Bar-David, his wife Hila, his deputy, another senior union official, a workers’ committee chairman and three additional suspects, amid a major investigation into alleged corruption.

Police said the investigation spanned more than two years, and that those detained are suspected of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax offenses.

According to testimony collected last year, the names of several ministers — all from the Likud party — surfaced, including those of Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar, Justice Minister Yariv Levin, Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi, Regional Cooperation Minister David Amsalem, Energy Minister Eli Cohen and Zohar.

Many of Zohar’s subordinates in the ministry were also questioned in November.

Among the suspects in the corruption probe are senior officials at KKL-JNF, the Wingate Institute, and Israel Railways, as well as local authorities in Rishon Lezion, Ashdod, Kiryat Bialik, Harish, Rosh HaAyin and Kiryat Gat.