West Bank mayor a witness in Beytenu graft case

Gershon Mesika, head of the Shomron Regional Council, is named as a state’s witness in a massive, high-level corruption scandal that has so far implicated senior current and former politicians, as well as dozens of other public officials.

Mesika, who is expected to resign from his position later today, gave police information about moneys that were transferred to senior officials, among them Faina Kirshenbaum, who stepped down as deputy interior ministry in January, weeks after news of the investigation broke.

Police said at the time that a year-long covert investigation had revealed a large system by which politicians funneled cash and favors to local bodies and other groups, as well as their members, in exchange for kickbacks.

Suspects “conspired in a calculated manner to advance their personal and public interests and to receive money for personal use, while committing various crimes in a manner that significantly impeded the administration of their areas of governance,” police said in a statement at the time.

The investigation targeted a number of high-level officials in the Yisrael Beytenu party with only months to go before March’s Knesset election, and party leader Avigdor Liberman accused police of an ongoing witch hunt against him.

Mesika is not suspected of taking bribes for personal use but rather of using money garnered through the scheme to promote the interests and activities of the Shomron Regional Council, police say.