Former Israeli Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman smiles as he leaves the courtroom after hearing the verdict in his trial at the Magistrates Court in Jerusalem, yesterday.
JERUSALEM: An Israeli court yesterday acquitted Avigdor Lieberman on corruption charges, paving the way for the hardline nationalist to return to the post of foreign minister.
The anticipated return of Lieberman — a tough-talking former bouncer with a history of incendiary anti-Arab rhetoric —could further complicate already faltering US-brokered talks with the Palestinians.
His return to the cabinet would be frozen if the attorney general files an appeal, but Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared certain that Lieberman would soon return.
“I congratulate you on your unanimous acquittal and am happy about your returning to the government so that we can continue working together for the good of Israel,” Netanyahu said in a statement.
The stocky 55-year-old Lieberman was put on trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust over his appointment of Israeli diplomat Zeev Ben Aryeh to the post of ambassador to Latvia after he tipped Lieberman off about a police probe into his affairs.
The prosecution said the appointment was given as a reward and represented a serious conflict of interests, particularly as Lieberman had not made anyone aware of Ben Aryeh’s tip-off.
Although the three judges at the Jerusalem Magistrates Court agreed he had engaged in “inappropriate conduct,” they did not find it worthy of a criminal conviction and announced his acquittal in a hearing which lasted just a few minutes.
Opposition leader and Labour party chief Shelly Yachimovich urged Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to fight the court ruling. “Public corruption is no less grave than political corruption and we are talking here about a corrupt person,” she told army radio.
But the reintroduction of the tough-talking Lieberman to the heart of coalition politics could have implications for US-brokered peace talks with the Palestinians, which began in late July after a nearly three-year hiatus and have made little visible progress. Lieberman’s exoneration came as US Secretary of State John Kerry was in Jerusalem holding talks with Netanyahu aimed at shoring up the negotiations, which have been shaken by recent Israeli moves to advance settlement construction.
Army radio said Lieberman’s return to the coalition would be “a harsh blow to Kerry.”
Critics have long accused Lieberman of racism towards the Palestinians and Israeli Arabs, especially after he said much of Israel’s Arab-populated areas should be joined to a Palestinian state in exchange for Israel keeping its West Bank settlements.
Lieberman has called for Gaza to be treated “like Chechnya” and urged Israel to treat its Hamas rulers “like the United States did with the Japanese in World War II.”AFP
