Comptroller delays probe of V15 political actions until after elections

V15 will continue to protest at junctions across the country, spokesman says.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Hotovely holds up screenshot of Labor website with V15 link. (photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
Hotovely holds up screenshot of Labor website with V15 link.
(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM/THE JERUSALEM POST)
State Comptroller Joseph Shapira late Sunday night informed the Central Elections Commission that he would delay probing the political actions of V15 until after the March 17 elections.
The Likud party has accused the Zionist Union of violating laws prohibiting accepting funds from non-Israeli citizens and foreign- funded organizations and governments via V15 (Victory in 2015), a group that, among other things, seeks to promote moves toward defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the upcoming election.
Shapira explained that there is little basis on which to review whether any laws have been violated until all of the political parties submit their financial reports after the elections.
V15 and the Zionist Union welcomed the comptroller’s decision as a rejection of the accusations.
The accusations came after a wave of scandal accusations against Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, regarding use of public funds or assets for foreign flights and consumption of alcohol and other soft drinks.
V15 has received funding from non-Israeli citizens S. Daniel Abraham and Daniel Lubetzky, but Zionist Union, V15 and its supporters counter that there is no direct connection between V15 and any political party – only a common desire to defeat Netanyahu.
Likud Deputy Transportation Minister Tzipi Hotovely had asked the election committee for a temporary injunction against V15, “so it will be known that a government cannot be toppled with illegitimate means.”
A V15 spokesman responded that Netanyahu and his wife had “consumed so many recycled bottles of alcohol that they were convinced that evil genies were coming out” of them.
“V15 will continue to protest at junctions across the country, and they will continue to recycle and fantasize,” the spokesman said.
Gil Hoffman contributed to this report.