Prosecutors indict 17 serving and former Bedouin public officials for corruption

The State Attorney’s Office files 17 indictments on corruption charges against serving and former public officials in the Bedouin community, including a serving mayor, six former mayors, their deputies, and other officials.

A former senior official in the Education Ministry with responsibility for the Bedouin education system is also among those indicted.

The indictments, filed to the Central District Court, include charges of bribe-taking, coordinating bribes, money laundering, and fraud and breach of trust, among other charges.

According to the indictments, filed by the Central District Attorney’s Office, the defendants demanded and received bribes from the operators of a network of high schools in Bedouin towns totaling millions of shekels, as well as getting other benefits.

This included demands for the school network to employ close associates of the public officials in exchange for winning tenders to operate the schools, “while abusing their status and public office.”

Among those indicted are Tuba-Zangariyye Mayor Hussein Heib, as well as a former mayor of the town, and the former mayors of the Arab towns of Ar’ara BaNegev, Basmat Tab’un, Ka’abiyye-Tabbash-Hajajre, Shibli-Umm al-Ghanam, and Zarzir.

The indicted former Education Ministry official is Muhammed al-Heib.

Along with the indictments, the prosecution files a request with the court to seize property belonging to some of the defendants, totaling approximately NIS 2.5 million ($700,000).

The case was investigated by the National Fraud Investigation Unit of the Lahav 433 major crimes unit.