Man who testified in Histadrut corruption probe dies by suicide

A man who gave testimony to police in a far-reaching corruption probe surrounding the Histadrut trade federation died by suicide on Sunday, Hebrew media reported.

The man, a contractor, was found dead in the Ben Shemen Forest in central Israel on Sunday, in a car that he had apparently bought just hours earlier.

He was described by the Kan public broadcaster as close to the family of Histadrut chief Arnon Bar-David, one of the main suspects in the case.

He was reportedly asked by Bar-David to supervise work on the labor leader’s home. According to the Globes news site, the work was worth millions of shekels.

Just a few days before his death, the contractor had been called to the police’s Lahav 433 major crimes unit to give testimony to Tax Authority investigators about the work.

He was not interrogated as a suspect in the case, and, after answering investigators’ questions for about an hour and a half, he was released to his home.

Bar-David allegedly used his position to seek to have his wife installed in a senior position at a bank, according to reports. He and his wife were among the dozens of people arrested and questioned when the major corruption probe burst into the public arena earlier this month.

More than 350 individuals have already been questioned, including mayors, executives, and public-sector figures. Investigators are also looking into senior ministers from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.