A former lawmaker of the Balad Islamist faction is suspected of funding fraud, Israel Hayom has learned.
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According to a police investigation, Azmi Bishara, who fled to Qatar after being suspected of spying for Hezbollah, provided Balad with over 2 million shekels in 2013.
Back then, the party's accountant said that after the faction failed to garner four seats in the Knesset election, it "caused a budget deficit of 2.5 million shekels."
The leadership, including former MKs Jamal Zahalka, Haneen Zoabi, Basel Ghattas and others, are said to have launched a donation drive to cover the difference. By the end of 2013, the operation proved successful and the entire sum was raised.
Upon receiving Balad's financial reports, the state comptroller's office immediately suspected foul play.
"I have been auditing factions for years, and I have never come across such a serious case," Erez Ofir, who exposed the affair, said in his testimony. "I noticed that all the donations are in the amounts of two thousand shekels and more. In my experience, such amounts are not donated. This made me suspect that this was a fictitious registration of donations."
The police summoned the individuals whose names were listed as Balad donors only to discover that they had no knowledge of the matter and their signatures had been forged.
A Balad official told investigators that to the best of his knowledge, the funds came from Jordan and Qatar, and were smuggled in insuitcases. He provided five names of senior operatives who he claimed transferred the money to Israel, some of whom are employees of the Knesset.
His testimony led to the conviction of 13 Balad activists, three of whom were arrested in 2012 and then in early 2013 upon entering Israel from Jordan with suitcases full of money.
In October 2021, the 13 individuals were convicted as part of a plea agreement of fraud and forgery of receipts. The case was closed and senior Balad officials were never prosecuted.
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Balad said in a statement, "The publication of the investigation is an attempt to tarnish the party and its members. This is political persecution. The attorney's office retracted all the accusations and signed a plea agreement. At no point in the case was Balad founder Azmi Bashara's name linked to what happened, and the attempt to do so is baseless. The involved Balad members acted for the benefit of the party's public goals, and none of them made personal profit."
