Israel Police on Wednesday raided the Foreign Ministry offices in Jerusalem, following an undercover investigation on whether diplomatic passports were improperly issued.
The investigation pertains to the period during which Eli Cohen served as Foreign Minister. According to the police, as part of the investigation, special investigators from the Lahav 433 unit arrived at the Foreign Ministry, conducting a search and confiscating relevant documents.
The investigation was opened several weeks ago, on suspicion that diplomatic passports were issued to those who were not eligible to receive them.
Diplomatic passports provide diplomatic immunity and significantly ease international travel.
Last month, reports surfaced that Lahav 433 opened an investigation into whether Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's son Yair should have been eligible for a diplomatic passport.
Earlier this year, the Supreme Court ordered the State to explain the Foreign Ministry's decision to grant a diplomatic passport to those who do not hold official positions in the service of the State. Such passports are traditionally provided to spouses of heads of government, in addition to the heads of government themselves.
Among those who received such passports were the younger Netanyahu and a number of local authority heads who do not hold official diplomatic positions, including Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, Jerusalem Mayor Moshe Lion, and Modi'in Mayor Haim Bibas.