Police question Herzog for 2nd time to complete graft probe

Herzog's office says questioning was conducted to complete a probe that was almost finished before and had been postponed.

By BEN HARTMAN
Updated: JUNE 9, 2016 01:19
herzog (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
herzog
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Police questioned Zionist Union head Isaac Herzog under caution for a second time in connection to a graft probe opened earlier this year, Channel 2 reported on Wednesday.
Following the report, an official from the force’s investigations branch confirmed that Herzog was again questioned recently, but not in the past few days. Police did not issue a statement when Herzog was called in for questioning, contrary to the usual practice when the person being questioned is a public official.
Herzog’s office responded that the questioning was just the completion of a probe that was almost finished earlier and had been postponed.
Nothing new happened from Herzog’s point of view, his office said.
“Herzog trusts law enforcement authorities and is sure they will soon prove that he did nothing wrong,” the office said.
According to Jerusalem Post sister publication Maariv, Herzog was questioned on May 29.
Herzog was first questioned under caution about alleged campaign fund-raising violations on April 17. A week later, Channel 2 reported that police had recommended closing the case against him, saying they had not found enough evidence to recommend an indictment. At the time of the report, police said the case was still ongoing.
The questioning in April followed a decision by Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit in March to open an initial probe into allegations of fund-raising violations carried out by Herzog during his 2013 campaign for the Labor Party leadership against then-incumbent Shelly Yacimovich.
The Labor Party is the main component of the Zionist Union.
Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.