The Supreme Court decided Wednesday to increase a jail sentence given to former Cabinet minister Shlomo Benizri from 18 months to four years. In addition, the court more than tripled an accompanying fine, sentencing Benizri to pay 250,000 shekels ($62,000) in place of the 80,000 shekel ($20,000) fine imposed by a lower court.
Benizri was ordered to begin serving his prison sentence on September 1, shortly before the Rosh HaShanah (Jewish New Year) holiday.
The former Shas member was convicted of abusing his power as an MK and a minister to provide favors for contractor Moshe Sela in exchange for bribes. Rabbi Reuven Elbaz was convicted as a co-conspirator.
Benizri was accused of obtaining permits for foreign workers for Sela, providing him with inside information and hiring members of Sela's family for state jobs in exchange for bribes, primarily money. Much of the money was donated to yeshivas run by Rabbi Elbaz.
The two were convicted after Sela turned state's witness. Sela testified that he paid for improvements made to Benizri's home and for other benefits.
Supreme Court Justice Edmund Levy explained the harsher verdict, saying, “The growing corruption in Israel's public institutes requires us to take action by setting a higher price for such acts.” While he expressed sympathy for Benizri and his family, Levy noted, “He himself did not take care to follow the prohibition against taking bribes.”
Benizri reacted with tears and shock to the new, harsher verdict handed down Wednesday. “This is a hard day for me, my elderly parents, my wife, and my eight children... I have been persecuted and maligned,” he said.
"The court found that I did not take a single shekel for myself, even though prosecutors tried to portray this as a big bribery scandal... I don't understand the harsh verdict,” he added.