Ben Eliezer's son questioned by FBI over father's alleged procurement of illegal cash

Ofir Ben-Eliezer, the son of Labor Party MK and former presidential candidate Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, is being urged to return to Israel.

By BEN HARTMAN
Ben-Eliezer looks on at presidential vote after having dropped out of race (photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Ben-Eliezer looks on at presidential vote after having dropped out of race
(photo credit: KNESSET SPOKESMAN'S OFFICE)
Ofir Ben-Eliezer, the son of Labor Party MK and former presidential candidate Binyamin Ben-Eliezer, was questioned by law enforcement authorities in the United States as part of an Israeli police probe into allegations his father accepted millions of shekels illegally.
Channel 2 reported on Saturday that the officials were from the FBI and that Israeli authorities are trying to convince the son to return to Israel for questioning.
An Israeli police official who spoke to The Jerusalem Post on Saturday said she didn’t expect any attempt to extradite him, saying “it’s not like he’s wanted for murder.”
She added that no Israeli police officials took part in the questioning of him this past week in the United States.
The probe against Binyamin Ben- Eliezer began earlier this month, and forced him to pull out of the presidential race in which he was expected to be a strong contender.
Ben-Eliezer said that the NIS 2 million in cash that was found in a safe deposit box of his at a Bank Discount branch in Jerusalem this month was sent to him by his son in the US, and he was holding it in order to purchase a house in Israel.
The investigation of Ben-Eliezer began after information was sent to the Attorney- General’s Office indicating that he took millions of shekels from a number of people, in particular oil magnate Avraham Nanikashvili.