Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak was interrogated today in the Bat Yam police station regarding the Labor party funding scandal in the election campaign of 1999. Today\'s session, which lasted six hours, marked the first time Barak has been questioned by police since the scandal broke. Police later said that he answered all their questions.
It will be recalled that in January 2000, State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg reported that the associations working for the campaign of Ehud Barak and his One Israel party had struck a \"great blow at the rule of law.\" While presenting the report to the Knesset, Goldberg had severe criticism of the then-Prime Minister, and noted a \"worrisome method [of funding] that arrogantly tramples the rule of law,\" and that a \"clear red line must be drawn between \'rule\' and \'money.\'\" A fine of 13.7 million shekels (over $3.4 million) was imposed on the Labor party. Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein immediately ordered the police to begin a criminal investigation of the associations that helped Ehud Barak win the elections, as well as of other parties that were found to have violated funding regulations in a more minor way.
It will be recalled that in January 2000, State Comptroller Eliezer Goldberg reported that the associations working for the campaign of Ehud Barak and his One Israel party had struck a \"great blow at the rule of law.\" While presenting the report to the Knesset, Goldberg had severe criticism of the then-Prime Minister, and noted a \"worrisome method [of funding] that arrogantly tramples the rule of law,\" and that a \"clear red line must be drawn between \'rule\' and \'money.\'\" A fine of 13.7 million shekels (over $3.4 million) was imposed on the Labor party. Attorney-General Elyakim Rubenstein immediately ordered the police to begin a criminal investigation of the associations that helped Ehud Barak win the elections, as well as of other parties that were found to have violated funding regulations in a more minor way.