Meretz Party Knesset leader Zahava Gal-On has slammed a plea bargain agreement for former Heftziba construction company CEO Boaz Yonah to spend seven years in prison and to pay NIS 4 million to victims of last year's Heftziba collapse.

Voice of Israel government radio reported that the left-wing leader has asked Knesset Laws Committee Chairman Menachem Ben-Sasson (Kadima) to summon state prosecutor Moshe Lador to explain what Gal-On called an "absurd" plea bargain. Gal-On said that by agreeing to the deal, the state prosecutor's office has "abandoned its responsibility to protect the public interest, prevented justice from being done and prevented the court from bringing those responsible to justice."

Gal-On also said she is concerned that the deal could prevent other responsible parties, including heads of Israel's mortgage banks, from being brought to justice.

Billion Shekels Missing

Yonah's sentence is considered light considering the scope of the scandal and the number of families who lost money or were left homeless because of the collapse, but state prosecutors called the deal an achievement because it will avoid a lengthy, costly trial that could end with Yonah's acquittal.

Police believe Yonah had been embezzling money from Heftziba for years, and say he may have pocketed over NIS 300 million in the scam personally. They believe that more than NIS 1 billion are unaccounted for. Approximately 4,700 home buyers in Netanya, Hadera, Beit Shemesh, and several cities and several towns in Judea and Samaria lost money when the company folded.

Extradited and Protected

Yonah was extradited to Israel Monday from Italy, where he is believed to have fled shortly before the collapse of Heftziba in August, 2007. He was caught in September near Lake Garda, in northern Italy, following several days in Romania and an international search conducted by the Interpol organization. Israeli authorities requested his extradition in October, and the move was approved by Italian officials two weeks ago.

Israeli police sequestered Yonah on board El Al flight 382 from Milan to Tel Aviv to protect him from possible victims of the collapse.