Ness Ziona Official Detained in Lahav 433 Histadrut Corruption Probe
Police raided the Ness Ziona municipality and detained a former official in connection with the "Hand Washes Hand" Histadrut corruption probe involving insurance agent Ezra Gabay.
Police investigators raided the offices of the Ness Ziona municipality on Sunday morning, seizing documents and detaining a former senior official over suspected irregularities regarding an insurance agency contract. According to a Lahav 433 source, the probe is linked to the "Hand Washes Hand" corruption affair centering on Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David and insurance agent Ezra Gabay. Investigators are examining whether corrupt ties existed between the municipal official and Gabay.
The current investigation was launched following a complaint filed by the Ness Ziona municipality several months ago, and the official was simultaneously suspended. Ness Ziona Mayor Shmuel Boxer announced the irregularities regarding insurance policies to residents in a video message this morning. The broader Histadrut affair involves suspicions that senior organization figures, led by Bar-David, received illicit benefits from Gabay, an insurance agent and Likud activist.
According to allegations, Gabay leveraged his political and labor union connections to secure jobs and board appointments in government-owned companies for municipal officials and union heads in exchange for the insurance commissions of their employees. These commissions allegedly accumulated into millions of shekels. Police stated that a new sub-investigation has been opened against a central district municipal official over suspected bribery relations with the previously investigated insurance agent, with additional suspects summoned to Yahak headquarters.
