Tel-Chai Nation

In news that deals a blow to the notion that Haredis like the ones leading the Shas party are "moral", former Knesset member Amnon Cohen from their political party has been jailed for accepting bribery, even going so far as to take sexual forms:

Former Shas MK Amnon Cohen was named Thursday as the ex-lawmaker arrested on suspicion of accepting bribes from a businessman, including sexual favors, in return for advancing his business interests in parliament.

Cohen, who served in the Knesset between 1999 and 2015 and was once given a commendation from Israel’s Movement for Quality Government, is suspected of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, according to police.

He was questioned under caution Wednesday before a court ordered he be held for a further five days of interrogation, police said in a statement.

“The national police detained for questioning this morning a former Knesset member over suspicions that while serving he received bribes from a businessman, including favors of a sexual nature, in return for pushing through issues related to his business interests,” a police statement said Wednesday, announcing his arrest. [...]

In March, “Uvda” claimed that the former Shas party member had been on the payroll of a stock market broker for 10 years, during which time he received large sums of money to advance the broker’s interests in the legislature. Lawyers for the ex-MK denied the allegations at the time.

The report said that Cohen received regular payments from prominent broker and investment adviser Daniel Molkandov and in return made use of his position, including as a member of the Knesset’s Finance Committee, to remove regulatory hurdles from the stock market and from Molkandov.

Molkandov told the program the two had an agreement: When Cohen wanted money, he would text him “Can I come and water the plants?” The two would meet in an apartment in the town of Ness Ziona, south of Tel Aviv, to make the exchange. [...]

Molkandov also alleged that during an official parliamentary visit to Belarus in 2007, Cohen requested that he find a female escort for him. “You know Belarus, Daniel,” Molkandov recounted the MK’s words to him. “Can you arrange something for me here? I’m alone in the room, it’s boring.”

“[I made] some calls… a ‘friend’ came over to him… to his room, in the hotel,” Molkandov said. The same woman was later flown to Israel for a second rendezvous with Cohen at a Dead Sea hotel.

Wow, isn't that fascinating how a bunch of "public moralists" don't practice what they preach? If the man's married, then he's also violated the Commandment of Thou Shalt Not Commit Adultery. It'd be no shock if the Shas party's other members knew about this but put up with it simply because he's also a member of the party. Now he'll have to face justice that's well deserved for all the weak beliefs they wanted to foist on the public. This is just one more demonstration of how corrupt the Shas movement really is.

Labels: Europe, haredi corruption, Israel, Knesset, political corruption