Israel Police nationwide fraud squad (Lahav 433) immediately launched a probe into suspected fraud and breach of belief on the Ministry of Transport, within the wake of the “HaMakor” investigative program by Channel 13 Information journalist Raviv Drucker. This morning police detectives raided the Ministry of Transport places of work in Jerusalem, carried out searches and seized paperwork.
Israel Police stated, “An investigation has been opened below the directions of the Legal professional Common and the State Legal professional on suspicion of offenses within the discipline of integrity and obstruction of justice, allegedly dedicated within the Ministry of Transport, following occasions revealed in an investigative report. The investigation continues.”
The visitors gentle system
In keeping with “HaMakor,” Minister of Transport Miri Regev and her aides have been rating cities and cities utilizing a visitors gentle system based mostly on the flexibility of mayors and native authority heads and senior officers within the authority to assist Regev within the Likud primaries. The investigation depicted Regev’s conduct as somebody who was appearing unprofessionally and managed the Ministry of Transport in response to her private political pursuits.
Amongst different issues, paperwork have been offered within the investigative program displaying that Regev made selections favoring or shunning cities and cities utilizing the identical rating based mostly on the flexibility of the mayor or native authority head to assist her with votes within the primaries. The investigation included paperwork, correspondence and recordings of Regev and her instant entourage, together with director basic Moshe Ben Zaken and spokesman Dudi Sassi.
HaMakor interviewed Yonatan Yehosef, Regev’s former chief of employees, who stated, “It was really set in response to a mix of the outcomes of the primaries that Miri Regev acquired within the final Likud elections. ‘Inexperienced’ represents authorities that you need to give to, you need to struggle for them. ‘Yellow’ represents authorities that, if doable, it could be good. If evidently the Ministry of Finance is streaming the cash to us – high quality. If not, it isn’t the top of the world. “White” means ship letters, and we’ll speak.”
Within the investigative porogram, paperwork have been additionally offered, which Regev had signed by hand, on selections that have been made “in accordance with the steerage of the skilled authorities.” In keeping with Yehosef’s testimony, it was written this fashion even in circumstances the place the professionals didn’t assume so. Cities that acquired precedence included Ashkelon, Nof HaGalil, the Druze settlement of Kisra-Sumei and the Nahal Sorek regional council.
A warning letter to Channel 13
In the meantime, Regev has employed the companies of Adv. Amit Hadad who despatched a warning letter to Channel 13. Within the letter, Regev claimed that the investigative program is distorted and false and that Yehosef stole paperwork from the workplace and even fabricated them – for instance, the one regarding the technique by which Regev prioritizes heads of authorities which, was referred to as a “visitors gentle” in HaMakor.
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Adv. Hadad’s letter additionally claims, “Our consumer shouldn’t be conversant in the pages you offered in this system. An inspection on the workplace reveals that there are certainly supervision and monitoring tables whose goal is to allow efficient and environment friendly supervision of the varied requests, and these tables even embrace colours, however there isn’t any trace or connection in them to affiliation or political help. Quite the opposite, the colours cope with the query of who’s the group dealing with it, what’s the standing of the dealing with, and so forth. Nothing to do with prioritizing authorities based mostly on affinity or political connection.”
Concrete allegations have been additionally made denying the selections talked about within the investigative program concerning Highway 40, Emek Hayarden, Arad, Beit Shemesh, Netivot and Bnei Reem and it was identified that since Regev grew to become Minister of Transport dozens of tasks have been funded, no matter political affiliations of the varied authorities, “However in response to the opinions {of professional} our bodies and the insurance policies of the Ministry.”
Ministry of Transport: A fabricated and false investigation
The Ministry of Transport stated in response, “It’s to be regretted that a number of weeks after the printed of Drucker’s false investigative program, Israel Police has come to search for paperwork that don’t exist on the Ministry of Transport.
“The reality is straightforward. This can be a fabricated investigation. There’s and has by no means been a choice on a political foundation. The Ministry of Transport distributes its budgets in response to the coverage and choice of the professionals, and another declare is fake.
“The Ministry of Transport will cooperate with the investigation to show how far-fetched the claims made by Drucker in his investigative program are.”
Presumption of innocence: It needs to be pressured that that is the early stage of a prison investigation and people concerned haven’t been charged with committing any offense, they usually have the suitable to be presumed harmless.
Printed by Globes, Israel enterprise information – en.globes.co.il – on June 9, 2024.
© Copyright of Globes Writer Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2024.
