According to a Channel 2 News report, Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein is signaling that the major investigation that has been ongoing against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman will most likely be closed and not result in a criminal indictment. Lieberman has been under investigation for over a decade and back in February 2011, the attorney general promised a decision in “two weeks” but this never occurred. Lieberman continues to maintain his innocence amid allegations of breach of trust, money laundering and other while collar crimes, insisting the lingering open cases are intended as a hurdle in his advancing political career, nothing more.

The prolonged investigations has even prompted the Movement for Quality in Government to petition the High Court, seeking an indictment or closure of the case, realizing this will be the fourth general election in Israel during which Lieberman is under investigation.

However, it is possible the foreign minister will face charges in a lesser case, one involving former Israeli Ambassador to Belarus Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh, who police believe received payoffs from Lieberman to provide him with information pertaining to an ongoing police investigation against him. Ben-Aryeh was convicted a number of months ago of obstructing justice and was sentenced to a number of months community service, obviously marking an end to his senior diplomatic career.

As has been the case over the past decade, the attorney general has yet to make a definitive announcement regarding any criminal indictment against Lieberman.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)