The Jerusalem
Magistrates Court will deliver its verdict Wednesday in the trial of former
foreign minister Avigdor Lieberman on charges of fraud and breach of
trust.
The ruling will have an immediate impact on the political
career of a man who holds a key position in Israel's ruling coalition,
following the decision by his party to run on a joint list with Prime Minister
Netanyahu's Likud party during the general elections earlier this year.
The stocky 55-year-old is accused of rewarding diplomat Zeev
Ben Aryeh with an ambassadorial posting in Latvia after Ben Aryeh tipped
Lieberman off about a police probe into his affairs.
If he is convicted and found morally unfit to hold office,
he would be stripped of all public office and have to surrender his seat in
parliament.
But if acquitted, the nightclub bouncer-turned politician
will be able to return to his former cabinet post within days, assuming the
attorney general does not appeal. An acquittal will also likely help his
Yisrael Beiteinu party boost its popularity, following a disappointing showing
in the last general elections.
Lieberman resigned his post as foreign minister in December
when it became clear he would be put on trial over then seeking to reward Ben
Aryeh. He has repeatedly declared his innocence and stated that if found guilty
he will bow out of politics altogether.
But he is still a Member of Knesset, where he chairs the
high-profile committee on foreign affairs and defense, and continues to head
the Yisrael Beyteinu party which he founded.
Wednesday's verdict could go one of several directions.
If Lieberman is acquitted and Attorney General Yehuda
Weinstein chooses not to appeal, Lieberman could return immediately to his
former post at the foreign ministry, which has been empty for the past 10
months. In his absence, Deputy Foreign Minister Ze'ev Elkin (Likud) has been
serving as Israel's top diplomat.
But if he is convicted, the full extent of the verdict will
not be known until sentencing in several week's time, when the court will have
to decide whether the offence includes the crucial finding of "moral
turpitude".
If the guilty verdict does not include such a finding, and
if he is not sentenced to time behind bars, Lieberman will be legally able to
return to the cabinet.
Even if he is handed a prison sentence, he could return to
government after completing the term - although that would mean reneging on his
pledge not to do so if convicted.
Then, of course, there is also the possibility of an appeal.
If, however, the conviction does include a finding of moral
turpitude, he will be forced to resign from the current Knesset
immediately.
If the court also hands him a jail sentence of more than
three months, he will be barred from politics for seven years.
But, as long as there is no jail term attached to a moral
turpitude finding, Lieberman could still remain a minister, despite having to
resign from parliament.
An unfavorable court ruling would also have implications for
Yisrael Beiteinu, whose controversial decision to run on a joint ticket with
the Likud party already resulted in a depleted number of MKs for the
party.
The ruling Likud-Beiteinu alliance holds a narrow majority
of 31 seats within the 120-member parliament.
Taking the stand in May, Lieberman admitted Ben Aryeh had
indeed given him papers but dismissed them as "not useful", and
claimed he had ripped them up and flushed them down the toilet.
Born in Moldova, Lieberman immigrated to Israel in 1978 at
the age of 20.
He read social sciences at Jerusalem's Hebrew University
then served as a corporal in the army before beginning to climb the political
ladder - first within the Likud party, where he become Netanyahu's
chief-of-staff during the latter's first term in the Prime Minister's office
between 1996-1999.
He founded Yisrael Beiteinu in 1999 aimed at capturing the
votes of Israel's growing community of Soviet Jewish emigres.
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