Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David Held 8 More Days in Massive Bribery Probe

A Rishon LeZion court extended Histadrut Chairman Arnon Bar-David’s detention by eight days Monday in what police call one of Israel’s largest public corruption scandals, involving bribery, fraud, and abuse of power across unions, municipalities, and state corporations.

Bar-David, his wife Hila Kanister Bar-David, and six others were arrested at dawn in Operation “A Hand Shakes A Hand,” a two-year undercover probe by the National Fraud Unit (Yahav). Twenty-seven additional suspects, including local government heads and business executives, were detained for questioning, as reported by Ynet.

Investigators say a close insurance broker to Bar-David allegedly traded high-level appointments for lucrative, untendered insurance contracts worth millions of shekels. Police claim the scheme spanned 12 sub-cases, touching Israel Railways, utilities, and city corporations.“This is one of the biggest public corruption cases ever investigated in Israel,” a senior officer told the court. “There’s a real risk Bar-David will tamper with witnesses, many of whom work under him.”

Bar-David’s lawyer, Micha Patman, called the arrest a “mega-terror attack” on the Histadrut’s 800,000 workers: “He’s cooperated fully, both phones surrendered, codes given. This is 30 years of friendship, not bribery. Even the police chief is the broker’s client.”

Patman noted a secret police report mentions Culture Minister Miki Zohar, but only in ignored requests for favors.The judge ruled there was “reasonable suspicion” of bribery and risk of evidence destruction, extending Bar-David’s detention by eight days and his wife’s by seven.

Wider Impact:

The scandal threatens to paralyze Israel’s largest labor union as it negotiates nationwide wage deals.