Yisrael Beitenu corruption case grows as Afula Mayor and top aide to Steinitz arrested

Investigation involves NIS 4,000,000 sent by the state to the Afula municipality, in exchange for appointments.

Jpost

A senior aide to Likud Minister Yuval Steinitz and the Mayor of Afula and his deputy Boris Yudis were arrested on Monday as part of the so-called “Yisrael Beitenu” corruption case, which continues to evolve and include more and more sub-cases.

Afula Mayor Yitzhak Maron is accused of approving appointments in the municipality in exchange for funding sent to the city of Afula. One of these appointments included the appointment of Yudis himself, according to testimony given by police in court on Monday.

An officer representing police told the Rishon Letzion Magistrate’s Court on Monday that the investigation involves NIS 4,000,000 sent by the state to the Afula municipality, in exchange for appointments, including that of Yudis.

At the end of Monday’s hearings, the Rishon Letzion Magistrate’s Court ordered the four suspects kept in custody until Wednesday, due to the fear that they may try to tamper with the investigation. On Monday morning, officers from the anti-squad unit raided the house of Steinitz’s Chief of Staff Rami Tayeb as well as the home and city hall offices of Maron and Yudis.

Tayeb, who also serves as the head of the Afula branch of the Likud Party, is suspected of brokering bribes. The entire arrangement is suspected of having been orchestrated by Yisrael Beitenu Chief of Staff David “Daoud” Godowsky. Police consider Godowsky the “right hand man” of MK Faina Kirschenbaum, the Yisrael Beitenu MK and deputy interior minister seen as the de-facto ringleader of the corruption case that as of Monday involves more than 15 independent corruption cases.

On Monday Kirschenbaum was questioned for several hours about the corruption case by anti-fraud unit police in Lod, and also announced that she will be stepping down from public life.

Steinitz released a statement Monday saying that he “trusts the law enforcement authorities to do their job well and hopes that no wrongdoing will be found in his political adviser’s behavior.”

Likud officials expressed concern about getting the party getting harmed by the scandal the way it has hurt Yisrael Beytenu. Besides Tayeb, veteran Likud activist and former Jerusalem branch Chairman Yisrael Yehoshua has been implicated.