A-G to be investigated for hiring illegal foreign worker

Population and Immigration Authority expected to open investigation into charges Weinstein employed housekeeper permitted only as caretaker.

By DAN IZENBERG, JPOST.COM STAFF
weinstein 311 (photo credit: Channel 2)
weinstein 311
(photo credit: Channel 2)
The Population and Immigration Authority was expected to open an investigation into allegations that Attorney-General Yehuda Weinstein employed a foreign worker in his home who did not have a proper work permit, Channel 10 reported Sunday.
According to the report, Weinstein employed the foreign worker until 2009, up until and after he began serving as attorney-general.
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The case, first reported in Haaretz, was referred to the State Prosecutor’s Office for a preliminary investigation several weeks ago. When it was decided that suspicion that the attorney-general broke the law did indeed exist, the case was transferred to the Population and Immigration Authority for a criminal investigation into the allegations.
Last week, Weinstein’s office released a statement affirming that the worker from India was employed by the attorney-general until 2009, but added, “to the best of our knowledge, the worker had a valid visa when he started his job.” The Indian national reportedly held a permit to work as a caretaker but Weinstein is suspected of employing him as a housekeeper.
Following a query from the Movement for Quality Government, an assistant to the attorney-general said that he would ask prosecutors to investigate the report and that it “will proceed in the same way as it would against anyone else.”
On the surface at least, Weinstein’s circumstances appear to be identical to those of Defense Minister Ehud Barak’s wife, Nili Priel, who employed a Filipina house-cleaner who entered Israel with a work permit for a caregiver.
Weinstein charged Priel with a criminal offense for employing the worker in a sector not specifically registered on her visa. Priel admitted to employing the housecleaner illegally and asked to pay a fine, but Weinstein replied that this was impossible and said she must stand trial.