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Fraud investigations against Miri Regev’s Ministry of Transport – Crime in Israel

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The Israel Police’s Lahav 433 fraud unit launched an investigation on Monday into alleged criminal acts including fraud, bribery and breach of trust by Transport Minister Miri Regev and her associates, following an exposé broadcast on Channel 13 last month. HaMakor.

Investigators raided the Ministry of Transport in Jerusalem on Monday, conducting searches and seizing documents.

What crimes is Miri Regev alleged to have committed?

Legal expert Dr. Yuval Karniel discussed Maariv and said: “In fact, these actions of Miri Regev, if and when proven in court, constitute serious crimes. The first of these is breach of trust, which prohibits a public official from exercising governmental powers and distributing public funds or benefits and facilities except in the general public interest. It is a crime if a public official does so within the scope of his interests.

“This is not only a criminal breach of trust, but in some cases bribery, since in return for the actions of a public official, a benefit is accepted in favour of the bribers,” he clarified. “In addition, the disclosure reveals a number of other crimes, such as forgery of documents, when the minister adds the words ‘according to the recommendation of experts’ to summaries, although there is no such recommendation or the recommendation states the opposite.”

“There is also suspicion of fraudulently obtaining benefits and even blackmail through threats. In some cases, the minister’s actions could result in additional criminal consequences if human lives are endangered due to erroneous decisions based on extraneous interests.”

General view of the headquarters of the Lahav 443 police unit in the city of Lod on November 4, 2019. (Source: FLASH90)

“The huge budget of one of the largest and most important ministries of the State of Israel has become a tool in Miri Regev’s hands to pursue her personal interests at the expense of the public, security, vital infrastructure and public transport. The damage this causes to the public is enormous,” he added. “The significance lies in the corruption of an entire ministry, the entire office of the minister and the government departments that work with the ministry and depend on its decisions. We are talking about tens of billions of shekels and thousands of employees who depend on the decisions of the Ministry of Transport.”

Dr. Karniel was then asked whether this was the case throughout the civil service. He blamed the centralization of power in Israel for the damage done to the civil service.

“All local authorities and transport infrastructure in Israel depend on the ministry and the minister’s office. This is the most centralized mechanism in the Western world,” he explained. “The head of a local authority cannot move a traffic light or sign without authorization, and much of the infrastructure that connects communities is centralized (in the hands of the minister). Even the budgets for transport infrastructure are centralized and under the control of the ministry and the minister.”

A statement from Transport Minister Miri Regev said: “It is regrettable that just weeks after the publication of Raviv Drucker’s false revelation, the Israeli police searched the Transport Ministry for documents that do not exist. The truth is simple: this is a fabricated revelation; there was no political preference. The Transport Ministry allocates its budgets according to the policies and decisions of experts, and any claim otherwise is false. The Transport Ministry will cooperate with the investigation to prove how baseless the claims made by Drucker in his revelation are.”



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