Illegal worker in Barak case located by journalist

Investigation into defense minister hiring illegal foreign worker was closed after Shin Bet investigators failed to locate the Filipino woman.

By JPOST.COM STAFF
barak kill 311 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
barak kill 311
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
The foreign worker at the center of a recently dropped investigation against Defense Minister Ehud Barak was located over the weekend and gave an interview to Israel Radio that aired Sunday morning. The worker said in the interview that Barak's body guards and his wife had her phone number.
The investigation into Barak's hiring of an illegal foreign worker was closed after investigators from the Industry, Trade and Labor Ministry, as well as from the Shin Bet, were unable to locate the Filipino woman. It was alleged that the woman illegally worked as a cleaner in the Barak family's Tel Aviv home.
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The investigation was called off when investigators could not turn up enough evidence to file an indictment.
In the Israel Radio interview, the worker said that she would typically enter the defense minister's home without undergoing any security checks. Speaking on Barak, the woman called him a "good man," and said that he treated her decently. The Filipino woman expressed similar sentiments about Barak's wife, Nili, saying, "Nili gave me presents."
According to the woman, she used several different names while in Israel. Additionally, she said that Barak's security guards as well as his wife had her phone number, implying that a regular relationship had developed with the employee.
It was discovered in the investigation that the woman began working at the Barak home without a proper visa in December of last year and remained in the family's employment for the following months, cleaning their home twice a week.