Israel’s attorney general has instructed the police to open a criminal investigation into bribery allegations in the primaries elections of the ruling Likud party, after various candidates reported that members of the party’s central committee demanded payoffs, prison clemencies and government jobs in return their electoral support.
The police will also investigate charges that organized crime managed in getting their people on the Likud slate, reported Ha’aretz daily. The internal elections process, which determines the party slate for the next Israeli parliament (Knesset) was held ahead of national elections, scheduled for January 28, 2003.
A nearly anonymous candidate, the 26-years-old Inbal Gavrieli, is likely to find her way into the Knesset having recently been assigned the 29th slot on the Likud list. Gavrieli’s family has long been pursued by the police for its connections to the underworld, although none of the family members had ever been convicted.
Her father, a nightclub owner, was suspected of being involved in illegal gambling. Her uncle owns a chain of casinos in Turkey, Hungary and the Czech Republic. The police investigated in the past the family's attempts to befriend members of the parliament in the hope of amending the law that prohibits gambling in Israel. — (menareport.com)
© 2002 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
