The Tel Aviv District Court Monday morning convicted former Kadima Finance Ministry Avraham Hirschson of stealing four million shekels ($1 million) and of breaching public trust. He also was convicted for money laundering and falsifying documents. His sentence will be determined at a later date.
Hirschson was a trusted minister and close confidante of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, who is facing indictment hearings on various criminal charges. The hearings have been postponed after the High Court accepted his claim that his prostate cancer surgery in the United States was urgent.
Hirschson was convicted of stealing most of the money from a branch of the Histadrut national labor union between 1998 and 2005. He received some of the money in cash-stuffed envelopes for “bonuses,” trips and political campaigns.
The Histadrut’s National Federation of Workers (NFW) also paid more than 145,000 shekels ($36,000) for alleged expenses and for non-work related meals in restaurants.
Judge Baracha Ofer ruled, “The message of the court is that it is clear that those in senior public positions carry full responsibility” for their actions. She noted that Hirschson’s offered conflicting explanations for his behavior.
Hirschson, who was hospitalized during his trial, admitted that he lied to the police, stating that the entire investigation was traumatic for him. He told the court during the trial, “It is very difficult for me to sit here as a defendant after being in the position of Finance Minister. There has not been one night that I can say I was able to sleep. I do not stop asking myself why I received the cash.”
At one point in the trial, he declared, "I am falling to pieces.”