Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein has announced that he plans to move ahead with a criminal indictment against Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman, who heads the Yisrael Beitenu Party. The announcement came on the afternoon of Thursday, 29 Kislev 5773 following over a decade of investigations against the high-ranking government official.

Lieberman spoke to the media earlier this week at which time he stated that if he is indicted, he will resign his cabinet post as well as chairman of the Yisrael Beitenu Party, but added he was confident this would not be the case.

Should this be the case, it represents a major change in the political map as the national heads into general elections.

While some of the investigations against Lieberman were closed, Weinstein stated he will charge him with fraud and breach of trust pertaining to the activities involving Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh, a former Israeli ambassador to Belarus. Israel Police back in May 2010 recommended moving ahead with a criminal indictment against Lieberman in the case. Ben-Aryeh has since been convicted and given a community service sentence, bringing his career to an abrupt end.

It appears that Lieberman will join the growing number of senior Israeli officials facing criminal charges. Mr. Lieberman has yet to comment on the attorney general’s announcement.

(YWN – Israel Desk, Jerusalem)