Dudi Appel breaks silence: The legal persecution and the billions that are still blocked

Businessman and contractor Dudi Appel, who was once one of the most influential figures in Israeli politics and a close associate of Ariel Sharon and Aryeh Deri, broke a long silence last night (Thursday) on the program "The Patriots" on Channel 14. Appel, who was questioned again this week, addressed in detail the sequence of legal matters against him over the last few decades, and claimed firmly that the motive for the many investigations against him is political. "My whole story, 231 investigations to date, is because I am a right-wing person," Appel declared at the beginning of his remarks, linking his positions to the legal pressure exerted on him.

Appel claimed that the roots of the persecution, according to him, lie in a project to evacuate transit camps (ma'abarot) that he carried out in 1981 at the request of the state. According to his claim, he evacuated 1,700 families but refused to accept a payment of 400 million shekels and land that the state wanted to give him as compensation, out of a desire to contribute to the state as an alternative to military service, from which he was exempted due to an injury. "I felt an obligation to make a three-year contribution to the state," explained Appel, and claimed that the financial dispute that arose around the bridge loans in this project is what lies at the base of the investigations against him even decades later.

During the interview, Appel leveled harsh accusations at the judicial system and the State Attorney's Office. He said that he was the only one in the country who filed a complaint against eight prosecutors and five judges, and claimed that heavy pressure was exerted on him to withdraw them. "The prosecutors threatened me that if I didn't drop the complaint against the judges, they would put me in prison for 10 years," Appel claimed. He added that he was told in the past that if he had identified with the left side of the political map, his fate would have been different: "They told me at the time 'leave Aryeh Deri and your friends, and believe me you will be the king of Israel'."

Despite his past as a contractor who built about 30,000 housing units and, according to him, paid billions of shekels in taxes, Appel described a different economic reality in the present. He noted that he lives in a rented apartment and drives an old car, since, according to his claim, his assets and lands worth billions are frozen and inaccessible to him due to the legal proceedings. "They told me a thousand times: 'We won't let you work in this country'," he said, and defined himself as someone who is perceived by the State Attorney's Office as the "most dangerous person" due to his economic and political power in the past.

Regarding past affairs like the "Greek Island," Appel claimed that it is "nonsense and fraud" and that the project was a legitimate business initiative in Italy in which large sums were invested. Referring to the country's leaders, he defended the memory of Ariel Sharon but on the other hand praised Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warmly, whom he called "a gift that this people received once in 1,000 years." Appel claimed that Netanyahu saved Israel from annihilation in the face of the Iranian nuclear threat, and noted that the legal persecution against Netanyahu reminds him of his personal experiences.

Today, at the age of 76, Appel says that he devotes most of his time to studying Torah and writing Torah essays, after he became a penitent (baal teshuva) about three decades ago. He testified about himself that despite the pressures he is "happy and good-hearted" and finds comfort in daily study. He concluded his remarks with a call to the judicial system to stop what he calls the "campaign of pressure" against him and his associates, and repeated his claim that it is a persecution that has been going on for decades without real evidence: "If there was something against me, one investigation is enough to kill a person."