Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein on Thursday announced a decision to charge Foreign Minister Avigdor Liberman with fraud and breach of the public trust in the 2008 case involving obstruction of justice by former ambassador to Belarus Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh. However, Weinstein decided to close the main case against Liberman.
The decision is a shocking last-second turn of events in what was overall supposed to be a major Liberman victory being indicted only for breach of public trust.
While far from certain, it is far more likely that Liberman will resign or be forced to resign as foreign minister.
Debates had swirled about whether he would not need to resign since the applicable law and the courts are not clear on whether "breach of public trust" is a serious crime. Fraud on the other hand is the paradigm financial crime and the only thing worse than fraud in financial crimes is bribery.
According to an earlier draft indictment in the main case, Liberman is suspected of receiving millions of dollars from private business people through straw companies between the years 2001 and 2008, while he was a member of Knesset and a cabinet minister.
The foreign minister has already undergone an unusual three pre-indictment hearing with the state attorney, and many times Weinstein has said he would decide whether to submit an indictment against him.
But on November 8, the State Attorney’s Office responded to a petition to the High Court of Justice demanding a decision on the case, stating that Weinstein would decide within about a month and before the January 22 election.
Since then, speculation has been rampant in the media about what would happen and whether the coalition would fall if Liberman was indicted in the main case.
Liberman previously committed publicly to resigning if he was indicted, but at the time he was discussing the main case, not the Ben-Aryeh matter, which came later.
There are scenarios where Liberman might still need to resign as foreign minister.
Ben-Aryeh was convicted last May of showing Liberman investigative material in 1998 against Liberman that Ben-Aryeh received in his capacity as an ambassador.
Liberman could still have problems if he is convicted and if there is a finding of moral turpitude, but most cases with findings of moral turpitude have involved much more severe charges than breach of public trust.
If Liberman did have to resign, but there was no eventual finding of moral turpitude, there would likely be no legal bar to him coming back as a minister.