A-G orders probe of alleged Kadima primary irregularities

Allegations include unusually high voter turnout in Druse and Arab sectors and "swift" voting time.

By ETGAR LEFKOVITS, GIL STERN STERN HOFFMAN
mazuz 248.88 (photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
mazuz 248.88
(photo credit: Ariel Jerozolimski [file])
Attorney-General Menahem Mazuz on Thursday instructed police to investigate allegations of fraud and irregularities in this month's Kadima Party primaries, the Justice Ministry said. "In the wake of a detailed complaint on this issue...we have asked the police to check into this," Raz Nizri, a senior legal assistant to the attorney-general wrote in a letter to an attorney from the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, who had asked Israel's top law enforcement official to look into the matter. The letter said that the attorney-general would decide how to proceed on the case based on the results of the police investigation. The complaint follows Israeli media reports of alleged irregularities in the Druse and Arab sectors in last week's primary. The irregularities and manipulations which were cited by an attorney for the Legal Forum for the Land of Israel, Dan Landau, in a December 21 letter to the attorney-general include the unusually high voter turnout in these sectors - over 90 percent compared to 40 percent nationwide - the "swift" voting time in these sectors and the "unusual" turnout in the final two hours. The organization asked the attorney-general to look into the allegations before Kadima submits it final party list to the Central Elections Committee ahead of the February 10 general elections. The investigation was initiated by Druse candidate Akram Hason, who ran against Deputy Foreign Minister Majallie Whbee for the 21st slot on the Kadima list that was reserved for a non-Jew. Hason won the 37th slot. The party will submit its candidate list to the Central Elections Committee on Sunday night. The Likud released a statement saying that Mazuz's decision to seek a police investigation of the forgeries "proves that Kadima is corrupt and corrupts others." Kadima officials expressed confidence that the police would find no evidence of wrongdoing. "The Kadima primary was the most organized, legal and clean election ever," a Kadima spokesman said. "We have nothing to hide, and we will fully cooperate with law enforcement authorities."