State Attorney Shai Nitzan has ordered the police to carry out an initial probe of corruption charges against Ambassador to the UN Danny Danon.
Reported first late Monday night by Channel 2, The Jerusalem Post confirmed the report with the Justice Ministry.
According to the report, Danon used his Likud positions, including as chairman of the World Likud Organization, to grant patronage jobs to family members and to supporters to ensure their continued support in Likud primaries.
Allegedly, the jobs did not require extensive work, but those filling the positions were handsomely compensated anyway, with the overall payments totaling in the millions.
One major appointment of this kind that Danon reportedly made was to name confidant Yaakov Hagoel as head of the NGO Doing Zionism, which led to many other supporters of Danon obtaining jobs through Hagoel.
Nitzan’s decision was coordinated with Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit.
Danon has denied the allegations, and said that all political parties have systems for trying to place their supporters in key roles, and that such a mechanism is not illegal.Associates of Ambassador Danon said in response to the reports: "Throughout his various roles in public service, Ambassador Danon always acted in accordance with all the relevant rules and regulations. Any inquiry is sure to confirm this as well. At the same time, we hope that a similar inquiry is held into the other departments of the WZO and KKL which are headed by individuals from Meretz, the Zionist Union and other political parties."