Police targeting Yisrael Beytenu, party leader says Avigdor Lieberman lambastes corruption investigation against his party

Police targeting Yisrael Beytenu, party leader says

Avigdor Lieberman lambastes corruption investigation against his party • "This is the most politically motivated investigation in Israel's history. ... This investigation was planned and timed to fit the schedule of the elections," he says.

Yael Branovsky

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman says the police investigation against his party is a vendetta | Photo credit: Yoav Ari Dudkevitch

Yisrael Beytenu leader Avigdor Lieberman lambasted the Israel Police Tuesday for targeting his party in a "politically motivated investigation" and for carrying out a "personal vendetta" against him.

The Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit recently released information on a massive corruption scandal involving key figures in Yisrael Beytenu, including Deputy Interior Minister Faina Kirshenbaum‎ and former Tourism Minister Stas Misezhnikov. Over 30 people have been arrested and dozens of others have been questioned.

"Not one single Yisrael Beytenu member has ever been convicted of embezzlement, bribery, or even breach of trust -- unlike many others, including MKs, ministers, and senior members of other parties. But have you ever heard of the 'Labor scandal' or the 'Likud scandal' or the 'Kadima scandal'? This isn't the 'Yisrael Beytenu scandal.' If anything it's the 'Lahav 433 scandal,'" Lieberman told an Yisrael Beytenu party convention in the city of Ariel, in Samaria.

"If anyone here thinks I'm hinting that there is some sort of personal vendetta in play, then I am. The fact that this was 'revealed' two months before the elections is very bizarre, to say the least. I would like to believe this was a coincidence, but in my case it would be the sixth coincidence of its kind.

"This is the most politically motivated investigation in Israel's history," Lieberman continued. "Never before has there been a police investigation named after a party or meant to specifically undermine a party. This investigation was planned and timed to fit the schedule of the elections."

Comparing past charges filed against him over nominations in the Foreign Ministry, of which he was acquitted, with the current case, Lieberman said, "I dreamed that all the police officers who were on the team investigating the ambassador's case, and are on this case now, got together and said, 'We have to stop this Russian. It's impossible that he keeps coming up clean. We have to stop this man. Heaven forbid he becomes prime minister.' And they said, 'We'll target those around him. We'll break a few of them, and after we do that, we can get them to confess to anything we want.' My dreams are usually very accurate."

After dedicating nearly half his speech to the investigation clouding the party's election campaign, Lieberman spoke of various political and diplomatic issues and criticized the Likud party, saying, "The one to cede Hebron and evict communities in Gush Katif was Likud, not Yisrael Beytenu."

Kirshenbaum, who has become the focus of the corruption scandal, received a warm welcome by Yisrael Beytenu members at the convention, and jokingly warned those approaching her, "It's dangerous to have your picture taken with me, you might be arrested."