The Yisrael Beiteinu Party has decided to appoint MK Yitzchak Aharonovitch as Tourism Minister in place of embattled MK Esterina Tartman.



At least two of the allegations again Tartman were proven false Wednesday – that she lied about having a Bachelors Degree and that she signed an affidavit stating she could only work four hours a day.



Investigative journalist Yoav Yitzchak reported on his NFC news site that a claim by Channel 2 journalist Amnon Abromovich that Tartman signed such an affidavit is completely false.



The four-hour limitation was a recommendation by an occupational therapist hired by Yahav Bank, he determined, and was limited to a 12 month period.



Tartman herself said she worked hard to recuperate since then and has succeeded, although she still suffers intense pain. "There are days I work 12 hours and days I work less," she said. "I am proud of that."



Israel's Education Ministry also confirmed that Tartman did indeed have a BA in business from Touro College, as she had claimed and been accused of lying about. Her claim that she had an MBA, however, was innacurate. She had only taken a number of graduate courses in business subjects, but not received the degree.



Despite the revelations, Yisrael Beiteinu’s secretariat convened Wednesday evening and decided that MK Aharonovitch would be made Tourism Minister in Tartman’s stead.



Aharonovitch formerly served as Israel’s deputy chief of police and is currently deputy Knesset Speaker and a member of the Knesset Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee.



Party chairman and Minister of Strategic Affairs Avigdor Lieberman said that the decision is in no way an indictment of Tartman. "I fully back MK Esterina Tartman,” he said. “We are talking about the person who spoke the truth and nothing but the truth from the beginning to the end. There were some faults. Maybe there were things that were not weighed to the fullest while talking or arguing, but at the end of the day Esterina is a woman who lives in Givon Hahadasha and is a major in the army…She is also the most prominent Knesset member among all the new MKs in the 17th Knesset."



Meanwhile, Ynet has dug up a new allegation of dishonesty against Tartman. The news site claims that in May 2002, Tartman hit a pedestrian at a crosswalk in Jerusalem. “Witnesses reported that ‘she wanted to keep driving, since she didn't believe she was involved.’ She only stopped when one witness ran after her and threatened to call the police, they said.”



Ynet quoted pedestrian Gideon Shoshani saying: "She hit me and ran, people chased her and stopped her. She said she hadn't hit me. All through the trial, she didn't tell the truth, but the judge believed differently."



Tartman insisted that she had not hit Shoshani, but that he had slipped and fell as he was crossing at the crosswalk and leaned onto the vehicle. The judge levied a fine against her, saying she was guilty of negligence and accepting that she may have been unaware of striking Shoshani. Tartman still insists Shoshani accused her of hitting him to collect insurance money.



Tartman claims that Israel’s state-run media have launched a campaign against her. "I'm being slandered,” she said. “The media, as well as the public, are required to act fairly and honestly.”