Rivlin punishes Gilad Lobbying for ‘deviant’ activity

Government censure follows hidden-camera investigative report exposing unethical behavior by the organization.

By LAHAV HARKOV
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin 311 (photo credit: Courtesy: Knesset Channel)
Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin 311
(photo credit: Courtesy: Knesset Channel)
Gilad Lobbying employees will be banned from the Knesset for 30 days, a committee headed by Knesset Speaker Reuven Rivlin decided on Monday.
The decision came following a report last month on Channel 2’s Uvda investigative program, which used hidden cameras to expose Gilad lobbyist Tzach Borovitz bragging about manipulating MKs and the Knesset Center for Research and Information in order to increase the revenues of Gilad’s clients.
Rivlin, along with Knesset deputy speakers Yitzhak Vaknin (Shas) and Ya’acov Edri (Kadima), held a hearing for Gilad Lobbying last week.
The company apologized to the committee, and said that what was said by Borovitz on Uvda is “far from the truth, some of which are words of arrogance and were represented in a fragmented and twisted way.”
“Deviant behavior through lobbying, as was exposed in the [Uvda] report, is a serious problem and has heavily damaged the public’s trust in the Knesset and its members,” Rivlin said.
The committee banned Borovitz from working as a lobbyist for two years. In addition, Gilad Lobbying director Ariel Sander’s lobbying license was confiscated until the beginning of the Knesset’s summer session on April 29. The rest of Gilad’s employees may not lobby in the Knesset for the next 30 days.