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Friday, July 18, 2025
AG, state attorney order probe into Likud minister May Golan over allegations of illegal fundraising, other crimes
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Attorney General Gali Baharav Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman have instructed police to open an investigation into Social Equality Minister May Golan on suspicion of having carried out acts of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel says.
The order to probe the right-wing firebrand comes on the back of an investigative report aired by Channel 12 earlier this year, which claimed that she had carried out dubious fundraising for a nonprofit organization she set up in the past and engaged in widespread nepotism in her office.
According to the report, Golan hired a string of people in her office who were relatives of associates or influential colleagues, some of whom did no actual work.
Those included the wife of a long-time legal adviser, who runs a dog grooming business but was also listed as a salaried employee of Golan’s office. The attorney himself had been paid thousands of shekels to prepare legal documents that were never filed.
The report also uncovered irregularities in Golan’s anti-migrant nonprofit organization, the Hebrew City.
Golan has been prohibited from being involved in the charity since she became a Likud lawmaker in 2019. Channel 12 found, however, that she continued to arrange tours of South Tel Aviv, including a tour two years ago for representatives of the Taiwanese embassy.
Golan is head of the Israel-Taiwan lobby in the Knesset.
Later, the Hebrew City asked the embassy for a donation of $78,000 and then another of $20,000, the report stated. The money was transferred, but it was unclear what it was used for, as the nonprofit has not submitted financial reports for three years.
Tomer Naor, the chief legal officer at the Movement for Quality Government, says that the decision to open an investigation into the allegations “is an important and appropriate step,” and calls for Golan to step down from her post for the duration of the investigation.
The Times of Israel Community.