[A-List] Israel: political scandal

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

What are the possible ramifications of this?

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Sharon hit by votes-for-cash scandal in Likud

PM forced on defensive after police launch inquiry

Chris McGreal in Jerusalem
Thursday December 19, 2002
The Guardian

Israel's prime minister, Ariel Sharon, has been drawn into a scandal in the
ruling Likud party - involving organised crime, vote buying and sex - amid
questions about his son's selection as a candidate in next month's general
election.

Two members of Likud's central committee are under arrest, after the
attorney-general ordered an investigation into allegations that places on
the party's list of election candidates were up for sale for thousands of
pounds.

The inquiry has prompted other Likud politicians, including several members
of the knesset, to approach the police with further allegations.

They include claims of cheques left at bar mitzvahs in return for votes,
free nights in hotels and an accusation by a female knesset assistant that
she was cajoled to provide sexual favours in exchange for votes.

Among those tainted by the allegations is the prime minister's son, Omri
Sharon.

The scandal broke after Inbal Gavrieli, a 27-year-old waitress, unexpectedly
won a place on the Likud party list which almost assures her a seat in the
knesset, under Israel's system of proportional representation.

She is unknown, but her family is not. Her father, Shoni, runs a hotel and
gambling business, and has been the subject of police investigations into
organised crime, although he has never been charged.

Ms Gavrieli received more than 15% of the central committee's vote but the
party's leadership is at a loss to explain how.

The subsequent appearance of a well-known organised crime figure, Mussa
Alperon, at the victory party of a prominent Likud candidate prompted
revelations of extensive vote buying and demands for bribes in the selection
of the party's candidates by the central committee.

Among those connected to Mr Alperon, who was convicted of racketeering, is
Omri Sharon. A Likud member who ran against the younger Sharon and lost,
Nahman Shechter, has told police that the election was tainted by organised
vote buying.

The prime minister leapt to the defence of his son in a television
interview. "I say this with certainty and full confidence: Omri is not
connected to this issue, no connection, he's not connected to this at all,"
he said.

But the leader of the opposition Labour party, Amram Mitzna, said that Likud
has fallen into the grip of a mafia.

"There isn't any doubt that organised crime is apparently infiltrating a
party, a ruling party, and is trying in this way to win favours. This is the
most grave connection between politics and money," he said.

Some Likud members accuse local political bosses of setting prices for
blocks of votes. Among those to publicly raise accusations of vote buying,
is Akiva Nof, a former Likud knesset member, who failed to win a place on
the candidates' list. He has given police the names of several members of
the party's central committee who allegedly demanded bribes to support him.

A central committee member, Haim Cohen, has told detectives that a colleague
demanded nearly £50,000 for his support.

Israel's finance minister, Silvan Shalom, says the accusations are
unfounded: "I didn't hear from any senior Likud member that he was offered
bribes. When I ask all my friends and colleagues if they had been approached
by anyone, the answer is negative."