Top aide to PM suspended amid graft investigation

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s parliamentary adviser Perach Lerner was suspended from her post for four months starting Friday.

Lerner has been the subject of a police investigation into allegations of fraud and breach of trust.

Her suspension was announced in a letter to her attorneys from the Civil Service Commission.

According to the letter, Lerner was suspended because of the severity of the suspicions, which could indicate moral turpitude on her part.

She has been questioned by police over suspicions of having used her position to advance the interests of a public relations firm owned by her husband, Avi, who has also been interrogated in connection with the investigation.

Earlier this month police searched the couple’s home as well as Avi Lerner’s office, and seized computers and documents.

Avi Lerner has owned a public relations firm representing politicians from Netanyahu’s Likud party.

The PR firm’s other clients include Israel Hayom (a free Hebrew daily newspaper funded by US billionaire and Netanyahu backer Sheldon Adelson) and Jerusalem Mayor Nir Barkat.

Avi Lerner has served as an adviser to Immigration Absorption Minister Ze’ev Elkin and to former minister Gideon Sa’ar.

Perach Lerner was described by the financial daily The Marker as one of the “most powerful women in Likud” and one of the “few top-tier female officials in the prime minister’s inner circle.”

In a response to the letter from the Civil Service Administration, Perach Lerner’s attorneys, Jacob Weinroth and Amit Haddad, acknowledged that investigations such as the one against their client often entailed a suspension from public posts.

However, they added, “In this case, we have a lot to say about the suspension, but at this stage we will focus all of our efforts on getting the truth out, and we have no doubt that at the end of the inquiries and investigations, Perach Lerner will be cleared of all suspicions.