Police probe interior minister over zoning change – report

Police are reportedly investigating a land transfer overseen by Interior Minister Aryeh Deri that could benefit two public figures and provide for the expansion of an ultra-Orthodox community just outside of Jerusalem.

At issue is a change in boundaries, approved by the interior minister in May, that would rezone agricultural land worth tens of millions of shekels from the Neve Ilan town, west of Jerusalem, to the adjacent Kiryat Ye’arim Regional Council, Israel Radio reported Sunday.

The land is owned by businessman Yoram Globus, and is home to TV and film studios and production facilities in Neve Ilan that broadcast such programs as Channel 2 News.

It is earmarked for rezoning by Kiryat Ye’arim for the development of residential and commercial property within the ultra-Orthodox town of Telz-Stone.

Representing Globus is Moshe Lion, an accountant and Jerusalem City Council member who was backed by Shas in a failed mayoral bid in the capital in 2013. Lion was also formerly an economics adviser and bureau chief for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Over recent months, police have been questioning planners on the boundary change, the report said.

Deri, the leader of the Shas party, who served a prison sentence for graft offenses committed during his previous tenure as interior minister in the 1990s, has been questioned several times over recent months as part of an investigation into suspicions of money laundering, fraud and breach of trust, theft by an authorized person, fraudulent registration, and tax offenses, according to police.

Earlier this year, Lion was also questioned by police in connection with those suspicions, although according to his spokesman he “revealed all the details he knew and was not placed under any restrictions at the end of the interrogation.”

A spokesman for Deri labeled as “grave” the reports that there had been irregularities in effecting the zoning changes.

Officials working under Interior Ministry Director General Mordechai Cohen had recommended the boundary change to the minister, the spokesman said, in order to allow Kiryat Ye’arim to expand the area it had for residential and commercial development, subject to planning approval.

Deri accepted the recommendation, although he had yet to sign the orders and maps, the spokesman added.

A spokesperson for Lion said he and his office had been representing Globus for 15 years on a variety of issues, including this deal, which was a totally ordinary real estate procedure.

The spokesperson added that neither Lion nor any of his associates had ever spoken with the interior minister, ministry officials or individuals on the relevant planning committees.

Globus could not be reached for comment.

The police said, “We do not give details of ongoing investigations.”

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