Avigdor Lieberman fraud trial opens in Jerusalem

Former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman is scheduled to appear in Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Sunday afternoon, when his trial on charges of fraud and breach of trust in the appointment of Ze’ev Ben Aryeh as Israel’s ambassador to Latvia begins. Lieberman will enter a plea of innocence.

Lieberman is charged with acting to have Ben Aryeh named Israeli ambassador to Latvia, after Ben Aryeh − who was ambassador to Belarus at the time − provided Lieberman with information about an investigation in Belarus of the foreign minister.

The former foreign minister will submit a written response to the court denying that he asked then MK Danny Ayalon − his deputy in the Foreign Ministry at the time − to advance Ben Aryeh’s appointment in the ministry’s appointment committee. Lieberman will also deny having kept a note given to him by Ben Aryeh with details of the Belarus investigation.

Ayalon, who was booted off the Yisrael Beiteinu ticket before the January 22 election and will be the main witness for the prosecution in Lieberman’s trial, said on Saturday at a program sponsored by the Southern Sharon Regional Council that Lieberman had tried to push through inappropriate Foreign Service appointments, adding that he “resisted the pressure, and convinced Lieberman” that the appointments should not be made.

According to Lieberman’s indictment, however, Ayalon obeyed his boss’ dictates to advance Ben Aryeh’s appointment.

Regarding the possibility of Lieberman resuming his post as foreign minister after the trial, Ayalon said Saturday: “He did not earn the trust of the international community and therefore should not have a second term as foreign minister.”

Ayalon told the audience that he had supported Lieberman “because it was part of my job,” adding, “If after a four-year term this is the result, it would be better if [Lieberman] became finance minister.”

MK Merav Michaeli ‏(Labor‏), speaking at a similar event in Be’er Sheva Saturday, addressed the notion that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu might save the position of foreign minister for Lieberman until the end of his trial.

She said the idea “reeks” from a public-policy perspective and was unethical. “All of the witnesses in the case are Foreign Ministry employees,” Michaeli said. “How could they testify honestly in a trial when they know that the next moment they will be fully given to the mercy of their next boss, the defendant Lieberman? Netanyahu is in effect telling them: ‘I suggest you watch your tongues.’ That is improper and it makes a mockery of the law,” she said.

Over the weekend Haaretz discussed the possible arrangement with jurists, political scientists and philosophers. They agreed that any arrangement under which Netanyahu agreed to save the Foreign Ministry for Lieberman until after the trial − while legal − violates public and ethical norms.

During his trial Lieberman is barred from sitting in the cabinet, but he can continue his parliamentary activities as a Knesset member. If he is convicted of offenses carrying moral turpitude, he will have to resign immediately.

If he is sentenced to a prison term of three months or more, he will be barred from running for the Knesset for a period of seven years, starting from the completion of the sentence.

Lieberman’s trial will be heard by a panel of three judges: the head of the panel, Judge Hagit Kalmanovich, and judges Yitzhak Shimoni and Eitan Kornhauser.

Sunday’s session is expected to be brief, consisting of procedural steps only.