Yisrael Beiteinu party chairman Avigdor Lieberman slammed police prosecutors and Israel's media Monday, saying ongoing police investigations were tarnished with what Lieberman called "blackmail" and accusing print and broadcast media of conducting a "hunting" expedition against him.
Police have investigated Lieberman several times since the mid-1990s for a series of financial irregularities including money laundering, bribery, fraud and breach of public trust. The current investigation began in January 2008, a week after Lieberman resigned his position as Minister of Strategic Affairs to protest the government's conciliatory policy in the face of ongoing Kassam rocket and terror attacks emanating from the Palestinian Authority.
Lieberman's attorney, Yoav Many, is also suspected of helping him break the law by facilitating fraud, money laundering and breach of trust and falsifying corporate documents.
Political Investigation
Speaking to reporters at Sokolov House in central Tel Aviv, Lieberman claimed that police warned at least one defense witness to cooperate against him in order to prevent Lieberman from ever being elected prime minister. He also called on police to file an indictment against him or to drop the ongoing investigations. "The police have no excuse for dragging out the investigation. Ten years is enough time to serve an indictment. If they can’t do that, they should close the case," he said.
Lieberman also lashed out against the Israeli media, saying local reporters have conducted a "media witch hunt" against him. He singled out Amnon Abramovich, a reporter and political analyst for the Hebrew-language Maariv newspaper, and Mordechai Gilat, a reporter for the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, for criticism, saying Abramovich is the "ringleader of [Israel's] corrupt media," and calling Gilat the "deputy ringleader."
No Attorney-Client Privilege
Last week, Tel Aviv District Court Judge Shmuel Baruch granted police access to documents seized from attorney Many's office last year, rejecting Lieberman's and Many's claim that the files should be protected by attorney-client privilege.
Baruch said the usual rules of attorney-client privilege do not apply in this case because he said police have sufficient reason to suspect Many may have been party to illegal dealings by helping Lieberman launder bribe money paid by businessmen Martin Schlaff and Michael Chernoy via companies owned by either Lieberman or his daughter, Michal Lieberman-Galon.
Police and political echelon officials were quick to reject Lieberman's criticism. Minister for Public Security Avi Dichter told Voice of Israel government radio that he placed "full confidence" in the police department's investigative branch, and several police officials said the investigations against Lieberman have dragged on due to the former minister's failure to cooperate with police.