Knesset committee to address alleged corruption in Kadima

Elkin and other heads of factions in coalition decide to refer charges of alleged corruption in Kadima toKnesset State Control C'tee.

By GIL STERN STERN SHEFLER
Zeev Elkin 311 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Zeev Elkin 311
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem/The Jerusalem Post)
Coalition chairman Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and the other heads of the factions in the coalition decided on Monday to refer charges of alleged corruption in Kadima to the Knesset State Control Committee.
The committee will deal with allegations of financial impropriety made by Kadima treasurer Itzik Hadad in an interview with Channel 1 reporter Ayala Hasson broadcast on Friday night. Among the charges made by Hadad was that Kadima paid large sums to a private investigator to follow around Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu ahead of the last election.
Elkin expressed hope that the committee would take the allegations seriously even though the State Control Committee is chaired by MK Ronnie Bar-On, a confidant of Kadima leader Tzipi Livni.
Elkin said he hoped Hadad would be summoned to testify before the committee.
Legally, Bar-On must convene the committee to discuss the issue within 10 days. Bar- On said he had not received the request from Elkin to hold the meeting, but that he would not “stand in the way of democracy.”
Livni vigorously denied the allegations at the start of Kadima’s faction meeting on Monday.
She lashed out at Hadad, Channel 1 and Hasson..
“The reports on Channel 1 were based on information from a man who we took to police and is being investigated on suspicion of serious crimes,” Livni said. “His accusations were lies and were not checked properly before they were broadcast. The reports of tracking the prime minister and other personal issues are completely false. We have initiated legal action against Hadad and Channel 1.”
A source in Kadima who is close to Livni said he was not surprised by the behavior of Elkin and the Likud.
“Someone who behaves according to a culture of lies cannot help but make cynical, political use of the lies of others,” the source said. “In behaving this way, he is testifying against himself.”