Adv. Tomer Naor: “We demand a quick and exhaustive investigation, in order to root out the rotten norms that have taken hold among the government”
The Movement for Quality Government in Israel today, Monday 7 January, wrote to the attorney general, the police commissioner, the head of the investigations and intelligence division of the police, and the legal advisor to the Civil Service Commission, requesting that a criminal investigation be opened into suspicion of involvement in crimes by the Minister for Social Equality and the Advancement of the Status of Women MK May Golan, and other public servants. This follows an investigation published yesterday about Minister Golan, in which it was revealed that a number of practices in her ministry that give cause for concern, including giving fictitious jobs to close associates, falsifying meeting diaries, submitting false affidavits and using funds for unclear purposes, all of which in a way that raises concerns about a conflict of interest.
From the circumstances described in the investigation, it appears that Minister Golan allegedly used her powers and the state resources assigned to her by virtue of her duties as a member of the Knesset and as minister to promote her political and personal needs, while seriously harming the public interest and public trust in the functioning of the government authorities, and the Ministry for Social Equality and the Advancement of the Status of Women in particular. Her work practices raise serious suspicions that serious crimes in the field of good governance and standards in public life have been committed, primarily crimes of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. This also applies to the conduct of the employees at the Civil Service Commission who approved the fictitious contracts and job offers at the request of the minister, and raises suspicion that they too have committed offenses of fraud and breach of trust.
Adv. Tomer Naor, head of the legal department at the Movement for Quality of Government in Israel: ״The findings of the investigation broadcast last night paint a very worrying picture, in which a government minister is devoting most of her energy and the public’s money to feathering her and her associates’ nest while the gatekeepers say nothing. We demand a fast and exhaustive investigation to root out the rotten norms that have taken hold among the government.”
