Attorney general to indict Minister Haim Katz on breach of trust charges

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit plans to indict Welfare Minister Haim Katz, of Likud, on breach of trust charges for allegedly advancing decisions benefiting a financial consultant to major Israeli firms.

The indictment won’t include the most serious charge for which Katz was investigated: allegedly receiving bribes in his dealings with friend and businessman Mordechai Ben Ari while Katz served as chairman of the Knesset Labor and Welfare Committee from 2005 to 2006 and again from 2009 to 2013.

The indictment centers on allegations that Katz advanced Amendment 44 to the Securities Law at Ben Ari’s request, which stipulates that companies must repay bond debt to small bond holders before it repays controlling owners. Ben Ari’s business represents groups of bond holders in multiple companies.

Katz has denied wrongdoing, defended his work on Amendment 44 as key to protecting small investors. In a statement today, his attorneys say that once no quid pro quo could be established — that is, no bribery was found in connection with his legislative work — it is a “fundamental error” in legal judgment to use the “generic crime of ‘breach of trust'” to indict a lawmaker for their legislation.

Once the indictment is filed in the coming weeks, Katz will have to resign from his ministerial post.