Watchdog calls for investigation of Yesh Atid

Group sends letter to State Comptroller asking for probe into charges Yesh Atid illegally distributed bonuses to top campaign activists.

By GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira 370 (photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira 370
(photo credit: Marc Israel Sellem)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira should investigate charges that Yesh Atid illegally distributed bonuses to top campaign activists, the Movement for Quality Government in Israel said in a letter to Shapira on Wednesday.
The letter came in the wake of a Channel 2 report on Tuesday night that bonuses were given to thank activists who helped the party achieve its successful result in the January 22 election. The report said the bonuses were paid from party funding that comes from taxpayers.
In its letter to Shapira, the movement enclosed a ruling by his predecessor, Micha Lindenstrauss, which indicated that giving such bonuses was improper and encouraged future violations.
Attorney Nidal Hayek of the movement said the bonuses led them to think that the activists did not campaign for the party because they believed in its positions, but in order to receive money that was guaranteed to them.
“This practice violates the party’s obligation to make well-thought-out and unwasteful use of the public funds allocated to them,” Hayek said. “It certainly does not contribute to fairness and equality in the election.”
A Yesh Atid spokeswoman responded that “as is customary in elections, there was a limited number of agreements signed that included a component of bonuses in the event of success.”