Police chief denies graft probe is linked to elections

Police Commissioner Yohanan Danino on Monday rebuffed accusations that an ongoing corruption probe that snagged several senior Yisrael Beytenu party members was deliberately timed for the run-up to March elections.

Danino called the allegations “absolutely unfounded” and said the the decision to publicize the year-long investigation was “based on professional considerations that could not be postponed.”

Last week, Yisrael Beytenu party members, including Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman, claimed that the timing in revealing the investigation was a part of a pre-election witch hunt aimed at impeding the party’s campaign ahead of the March 2015 election.

At a press conference Monday at the Peres Center in Jaffa, Danino called on investigators to ignore the allegations and to continue their probe.

“I want to tell each and every one of my investigators: ignore the background noise and concentrate on your work, in order to arrive at the truth, and nothing else,” he said.

Moshe Lion, a former Jerusalem mayoral candidate and Liberman confidant, was questioned by police in connection to the graft case on Sunday. Investigators suspect Lion of facilitating bribes, of which he allegedly took a significant cut for himself. He was released to a five-day house arrest shortly after his interrogation. Lion denied the allegations, but said in a statement that he had cooperated with police.

On Sunday, Liberman lashed out at the state prosecution, accusing it of a double standard in pushing ahead with the graft probe during election season but agreeing to push off a case involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu until after the March 17 vote.

Last Wednesday, police arrested 31 politicians and public officials suspected of fraud in a large network of bribery and corruption.

Many of the suspects are senior Yisrael Beytenu party members, including Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum who is a key suspect in the case, along with her daughter Ranit. Former tourism Stas Misezhnikov was also arrested as part of the case, and police official have indicated the probe is expected to widen, with dozens more arrests planned.

Investigators suspect cash was inappropriately transferred to non-government organizations and various other groups. In return, the organizations allegedly made nepotistic appointments, as well as circulating some of the money back to public officials in the form of cash payoffs and benefits.

“The covert investigation revealed a calculated method wherein the suspects and their representatives unlawfully transferred, using their powers as public officials, large sums of public funds to [various] bodies and authorities, in exchange for large benefits for them or their associates, including appointments, payments and more,” a police statement said after the initial round of arrests Wednesday.

David Godovsky, the chief of staff for the Yisrael Beytenu party, is suspected of several counts of bribery. He was ordered to stay in jail nine days. Misezhnikov was ordered to remain in jail for eight days, along with a number of other officials.

On Thursday, police said Agriculture Ministry Director General Rami Cohen was also being held.

Police say they have state’s witnesses and incriminating evidence against some of the suspects.

In response to the arrests, Liberman charged that when it came to Yisrael Beytenu “there are no elections without investigations,” he wrote in a Facebook post.

“Time after time, without exception, ‘anonymous forces’ intervene in each election cycle and [try to] harm Yisrael Beytenu’s right to compete fairly,” he wrote.

Liberman also protested the “attempt to smear the party as a whole,” and said he was convinced it would emerge stronger and more united, as it had after previous corruption cases.

Stuart Winer and Lazar Berman contributed to this report.