From the Liveblog of
Monday, July 13, 2026
Police grill Shas MK a second time on suspicion of funneling taxpayer funds to party paper
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Shas lawmaker Haim Biton has been interrogated by police for a second time on suspicion of misusing public funds to finance the ultra-Orthodox party’s periodical, HaDerech.
The politician was questioned over his activities as former head of Shas’s school network, Ma’ayan Hachinuch Hatorani, from 2018 to 2021, Channel 12 reports, after he allegedly exploited his position to divert public education funds to prop up the newspaper’s children’s supplement.
This is the second time Biton has been interrogated in the affair. He was questioned in March last year on suspicion of fraud, breach of trust, falsification of corporate documents and money laundering for his role in the alleged embezzlement.
The probe into Biton began in October 2024, when Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara gave officers the go-ahead to begin investigating the lawmaker and others associated with the Shas party mouthpiece, following appeals by the Movement for Quality Government in Israel, an anti-corruption advocacy group.
A source involved in the probe tells Channel 12 that police are preparing to transfer the case to the State Attorney’s Office to file an indictment.
Police have not yet commented on Biton’s questioning yesterday.
The Times of Israel Community.