Hadera mayor, other senior municipality officials arrested

Police arrested four suspects, including a mayor and other senior municipality officials, on Monday morning for suspicion of involvement in bribery, fraud and breach of trust, tax offenses and other offenses.

Hadera Mayor Zvi Gendelman was identified as a suspect. In response, Yesh Atid chairman Yair Lapid suspended Gendelman from the party.

Yesh Atid responded that the procedure in the party is clear: A public official who is the subject of a criminal investigation will immediately suspend themselves from all their roles and their party membership will be terminated until the matter is clarified.

“We hope the suspicions will turn out to be false,” a party spokesman said.

Police said that following a long covert investigation into the suspected offenses, on Monday morning its National Fraud Squad in the Lahav 443 Unit had launched an open investigation.

The investigation is being conducted by the Israel Police in collaboration with the Diamond Unit in the Israel Tax Authority and in cooperation with a focus on public corruption.

According to the suspicions, the suspects, each in their own way, used their roles in order to advance the benefits of others, in violation of the law.

When the suspects were arrested, police searched their homes and offices.

The suspects were taken for questioning by the police, and were set to be brought to the court in Rishon Lezion for hearings. Police said the detainees would be brought to court later in the afternoon.

“The Israel Police will continue to investigate and expose improper processes, where there are conflicts of interest, and to seek and reach any place where there is suspicion of public corruption that harms the government and ordinary citizens,” Israel Police said.

Jerusalem Post staff contributed to this report.