Former Defense Minister, senior IDF officer, and Labor party icon Binyamin (Fuad) Ben-Eliezer was indicted in a Tel Aviv court Wednesday for money laundering, bribery, fraud, tax evasion and breach of public trust.
He also was a hair’s breadth from being elected president before charges against him were made public.
The damning indictments, even if he not convicted, destroy his image of having served the country for decades and once again raises the question why politicians exploit their positions of power for greed and favor friends in return for financial reward.
The charges against him are considered the gravest in modern Israeli history, even worse than the bribery conviction of former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert.
The investigation of Ben-Eliezer uncovered approximately $500,000 in cash in his home. He allegedly took tens of thousands of dollars in return for favors.
The arrest of Ben-Eliezer sent shock waves throughout Israel, especially among the Left and left-wing media who were campaigning for him to be elected President of Israel in a contest against veteran Likud Knesset Member Reuven Rivlin.
The race was neck-and-neck until the arrests, five days before the election of the President, forced Ben-Eliezer out of the running. His supporters complained that the investigation was a hoax in order to allow Rivlin to be elected.
Once a host of allegations and a later conviction against Olmert sent him to the political cemetery, Ben-Eliezer became the liberal media’s de facto nominee to be the next Prime Minister.
The government-funded Kol Yisrael radio network constantly interviewed him during prime time news, sometimes as often as once a week.\
Ben-Eliezer was born in Iraq and was a commander in the Six-Day War in 1967 and in the Yom Kippur War. His political career in the Knesset began in 1984, and he rose to become a senior member of the Labor party.
He served as Defense Minister under Ariel Sharon and was Labor party chairman.
Ben-Eliezer now is 80 years old and is in poor health, a factor which may lighten a prison sentence.