OCCUPIED JERUSALEM, 31 October 2003 — Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for seven hours yesterday about suspected bribery in a real estate deal.
Sharon, the third sitting prime minister to be targeted in a corruption probe, has denied wrongdoing. Police declined comment after the questioning.
Police arrived at Sharon’s official residence in Jerusalem at 9 a.m. and left seven hours later. Israeli media said the prime minister was questioned under warning, meaning they might recommend he be charged. However, delivering such a warning is relatively routine in investigations of this type.
The investigation focuses on a business deal between Sharon’s younger son, Gilad, and businessman David Appel, who has ties to Sharon’s Likud party.
Appel allegedly paid Gilad Sharon hundreds of thousands of dollars to market a tourism project in Greece, local media reported.
Police are investigating whether Gilad Sharon was hired in an attempt to get his father, who was foreign minister at the time, to assist in getting the Greek authorities to approve the land deal.
A district court recently overturned a police request for Gilad Sharon to hand over documents.
Another investigation deals with a $1.5 million loan from a South African businessman to Sharon’s sons, to help them pay back an illegal contribution to Sharon’s 1999 campaign for Likud leader. Media reports said Sharon was not asked about that case yesterday.
Sharon is the third prime minister to be investigated by police. Previous corruption inquiries against Benjamin Netanyahu and Ehud Barak were eventually dropped.
