Drama • court ruled: Avigdor Lieberman innocent

Avigdor Lieberman, was acquitted this morning (Wednesday) unanimously by the three judges of the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court in the 'ambassador affair', in which he was charged with offenses of fraud and breach of trust.

The three judges - Yitzhak Shimoni, Hagit Mack-Kalmanovitz and Eitan Kornhauser - gave the decision, and the immediate significance of credit is: Lieberman can go back to the Foreign Office, from which he was forced to resign last year following the filing of the indictment.

The verdict is a blow to the State Attorney and the Attorney General, after the Magistrate Court judges unanimously threw the case built by the prosecution and rejected all the arguments against the former foreign minister. It is still unclear whether the prosecution will appeal against the court's decision.

Upon leaving the court, Lieberman said: "17 years have ended. This chapter is behind me. I would like to thank my family, my friends who were behind me all those 17 years and believed in justice and gave support, and the defense team. Going to deal with the important challenges that we have in Israel."

After the acquittal, Lieberman, accompanied by associates, went to pray at the Western Wall.

One can not base a conviction

Immediately upon opening the hearing, Judge Mack - Kalmanovitz read the decision, indicating that Lieberman did not initiate the receipt of the information from the Ambassador Ben-Arieh, and it was not proved that he was aware that the information reached him by force of his duties, and therefore was not aware of the severity of the actions either. In addition, it was no proven that the appointment of Ben Arieh as Ambassador in Latvia was not worthy. It was also decided by the judges, that one can not base the conviction on the testimony of former Deputy Minister Danny Ayalon.

Lieberman was charged that he promoted the appointment of Ambassador Ben-Arieh to his role in Latvia in 2009, and that he illegally passed information regarding a rogatory relating to Lieberman.

The prosecution's key witness was former Deputy Foreign Minister Danny Ayalon who claimed that Lieberman told him to act to appoint Ze'ev Ben Arieh.

Lieberman and his lawyers argued on the other hand that Israel Beiteinu Chairman thought that Ben Arieh is transferring information about a rumor he herd, and he did not know that the information was not formal and did not attach any importance to it.

Lieberman also claimed that he never asked Danny Ayalon to appoint Ben Arieh, and that Ben Arieh was in any way worthy of the nomination.

The full acquittal allows Lieberman, as noted, to return to the Foreign Office. Conviction with shame would have forced him to immediately resign from the Knesset until the next elections. If the shame was joined by three months in prison, he could not run for the Knesset for seven years.

'בחדרי' גם ברשתות החברתיות - הצטרפו!