Avraham Hirschson, a former Likud Finance Minister currently facing corruption charges, told a Tel Aviv District 
"Why did I take the money in cash?" -- Hirschson in court
Court on Tuesday that he deserved the millions of shekels he is accused of stealing from public funds. However, he admitted, he is ashamed of the way in which he received the funds.
Hirschson is accused of personally pocketing 2.5 million shekels (about US$618,000) out of the four million shekels he and others allegedly took from the National Labor Union coffers between 1998 and 2005. Charges in the case, including theft, money laundering and fraud, have led to several plea-bargain convictions thus far. Among the accomplices sentenced were several former top officers of the Histadrut National Labor Union.
"I have not been able to sleep for a single night" for more than half a year, Hirschson told the court. "I suffer every minute and every night, and don't stop asking myself: Why did I take the money in cash?"
Explaining what he meant in his pathos-filled testimony, Hirschson said, "I will attempt to explain that I deserved every agurah [cent], but the method was below standard and I can't explain it. I don't know how to explain it. Blindness? Insensitivity? I am ashamed of the way in which I received the money. I don't know how to explain it and I can't forgive myself."
Hirschson claimed that the National Labor Union financial officer, who was convicted of the largest theft in the case thus far, approached him for help to cover gambling debts that he paid off by embezzling from the labor union. In response to the confession, Hirschson continued, he asked the union's executive committee to pay the financial officer whatever the organization owes him and to fire him. Hirschson described the gambling officer, Ovadia Cohen, as "a friend who betrayed me."
Yaakov Weinrott, Hirschson's attorney, told the court that his client handed over more than 1.16 million shekels to the National Labor Union on Monday. He expects the funds to be held by the organization until the court determines if they should legitimately belong to Hirschson. "We thought it was proper public hygiene that the money be in their possession," Weinrott said.
Weinrott intends to argue that Hirschson legitimately deserved much more money than he actually took from the National Labor Union, which he presented as a pension due to the former public official after 30 years of service. However, Weinrott added, "We won't defend the method [by which he got the money].... He had his reasons, which do not justify [his actions]."