Police briefly probe Rivlin’s financial dealings
Attorney general calls off investigation of alleged improprieties after concluding president innocent
Stuart Winer is a breaking news editor at The Times of Israel.
Police briefly probed allegations of financial impropriety against newly inaugurated President Reuven Rivlin before Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein closed the investigation, Israeli media reported on Sunday.
Preliminary findings were passed to the attorney general, who initially recommended that police continue looking into the matter, Channel 2 reported Sunday.
However, shortly after the Channel 2 report broke, Haaretz reported that the investigation was closed by Weinstein after he found that Rivlin was innocent of the allegations.
According to the suspicions, more than a decade ago Rivlin received thousands of shekels per month over a “significant period” from businessman David “Dudi” Appel.
Appel is serving out a three-and-a-half-year prison sentence for bribing public officials.
Police had presented their suspicions to the attorney general before Rivlin was sworn in on July 24.
Rivlin was sworn in as the 10th president of Israel at the end of last month in a Knesset ceremony that was kept modest, due to the war in Gaza.
