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Israel's attorney general revises indictment against former FM

28 December 2012 04:20 (UTC +04:00)

Baku-APA. New evidence has led Israeli Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein to revise the indictment against former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud and breach of trust, the Ha'aretz daily reported Thursday, APA reports quoting Xinhua.

While the charges have no changes, the factual basis of the indictment has been revised, increasing the chances of Lieberman being accused of moral turpitude, which will affect his political future, the report said.

Lieberman stepped down as foreign minister earlier this month.

The new indictment said that after he was appointed as foreign minister, Lieberman first offered Ze'ev Ben Aryeh the position of a consultant in his diplomatic headquarters and then helped promote Ben Aryeh to the post of Israeli ambassador to Belarus.

Ben Aryeh was allegedly promoted after leaking information to Lieberman about a police investigation against the former foreign minister. The previous indictment did not refer to Lieberman's active involvement in Ben Aryeh's promotion.

In addition, the indictment, filed by Weinstein to the Knesset (parliament) on Thursday, showed that Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon, Ben Aryeh and officials within the justice ministry will be among the witnesses against Lieberman.

Ayalon's testimonies would have great significance since he claimed Lieberman approached him directly regarding Ben Aryeh's appointment.

In October, Ben Aryeh was sentenced to four months of community service for passing confidential information to Lieberman.

The updated indictment might have a far-reaching impact on Lieberman's political future. He had hoped the matter could be quickly settled in court prior to the Jan. 22 parliamentary elections.

Lieberman is not prohibited by law from running in the elections. His right-wing party Yisrael Beiteinu (Our Home is Israel) and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Likud group have reached an electoral pact, and opinion polls had predicted they would win.