Israel files charges against ex-minister

JERUSALEM - Israel's Justice Ministry filed its indictment against former Foreign Minister Avigdor Lieberman in a Jerusalem court on Sunday, charging him with breach of trust and fraud in a case that could further harm his political career.

Lieberman is accused of trying to advance the career of a former diplomat after the envoy relayed information to him about a criminal investigation into the former cabinet minister's business dealings.

On Dec. 13, the Justice Ministry released a draft indictment to both Lieberman and the news media. On Sunday, an amended version of that draft was filed in the Jerusalem Magistrates Court after prosecutors received testimony suggesting he was more deeply involved than previously thought in trying to promote the diplomat.

The actual charges remained unchanged.

Lieberman, who denies any wrongdoing, resigned his cabinet post this month after he was informed of the pending charges, though he remains a member of parliament.

The diplomat he tried to promote, former ambassador to Belarus Zeev Ben-Aryeh, reached a plea bargain with the state in the case this year.

The indictment did not address the main suspicions against Lieberman that were the focus of a years-long investigation. Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein ultimately decided prosecutors did not have a strong enough case to charge Lieberman with illicitly receiving millions of dollars from businessmen and laundering the cash through straw companies in Eastern Europe.

While Lieberman was charged with lesser offenses, his political future could be compromised if the court that hears the case decides to convict him of a crime that carries what is known in Israeli law as "moral turpitude." Lawmakers convicted of such crimes must resign immediately from parliament, then are barred from reentering politics for seven years.