Hanegbi: Court's decision is 'heavy blow but I respect it'

J'lem Court rules that Likud MK's crimes involved moral turpitude and his service in Knesset will be suspended immediately; Hanegbi says: "This moment is very sad" after 22 years of Knesset service.

By DAN IZENBERG, JPOST.COM STAFF
311_Tzahi Hanegbi (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
311_Tzahi Hanegbi
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem / The Jerusalem Post)
After the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court ruled Tuesday morning that the crimes which MK Tzahi Hanegbi was convicted of involved moral turpitude, the Likud MK said that the decision "is a heavy blow, but I respect it."
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Additionally, the court did not sentence Hanegbi, as the state requested, to a prison sentence.
Hanegbi told a press conference he will send a letter to the Knesset confirming his departure.
"My 22 years of service in the Knesset are ending now," Hanegbi said. "This moment is very sad. Sad because I know what challenges face Israel, and my ability to assist the country is now weaker."
The lower court's decision means that Hanegbi will immediately be suspended from the current Knesset, but will still be able to run for a seat in the next one.
This means that there is nothing to prevent Hanegbi from becoming a cabinet minister.
Had he been sentenced to prison, including a suspended sentence, he would have been barred from serving on the cabinet for seven years.
Hanegbi also has the right to appeal against the lower court's decision, to the district court.
Should the higher court overturn the mortal turpitude ruling, Hanegbi would be able to return to the Knesset immediately.
In the meantime, however, the state has already announced it will appeal the lower court's acquittal from the main charge in the indictment, which was that Hanegbi had boasted of making thousands of political appointments of Likud Central Committee members and their relatives.
The state had charged him with fraud and breach of faith over these allegations.
Judge Yoel Tsur, who wrote the minority opinion, insisted on reading his entire decision to those who attended the hearing.
Judge Aryeh Romanov, who read out the majority opinion, sufficed with a shorter version of the decision. He was supported by Judge Oded Shaham.