Afula mayor arrested in corruption probe

Afula Mayor Avi Elkabetz and several other senior municipal officials were arrested and taken in for questioning Wednesday morning, on suspicion of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Police stormed the officials’ offices in City Hall following an investigation into the alleged crimes that was conducted by the police’s national fraud unit.

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The Haifa Magistrate’s Court ordered Elkabetz released on bail, but forbade him from entering Afula and the municipality building for 30 days.

“This is a difficult day for Afula and its residents,” said Reuben Lokler, a City Council representative from the Likud faction. Yet he voiced his support for the institutions of law to act quickly and decisively to clean up Afula’s tarnished reputation.

Opposition chairman Itzik Miron also called it a “very sad day” for the city of Afula, Walla News reported. He said other officials had warned about various irregularities around the city a number of times, and that it was up to the police to do their job now.

Afula, a city located in the Jezreel Valley in northern Israel, is home to some 40,000 individuals.