Religious Services Ministry Director General Yehuda Avidan Questioned by Lahav 433 on Suspicion of Corruption Offenses

The director general of the Ministry of Religious Services, Yehuda Avidan, was questioned today, Sunday, by Lahav 433 on suspicion of breach of trust and misuse of office. Two senior officials in the ministry were also questioned on suspicion of the same offenses. The suspicion under investigation is that the head of the religious council in Kiryat Malakhi, Michel Tapiero, discovered irregularities in the work of the city’s kashrut department director and summoned him to a pre-dismissal hearing, but Avidan acted to overturn the dismissal. According to the suspicions, he called Tapiero and told him, "We do not treat people like that on our side." A report on Avidan’s conduct in this matter was published on Channel 13 News.

Avidan’s attorney, Ofer Bartal, said: "He was questioned today on suspicion of breach of trust. The suspicion stems from a claim by the head of a religious council that he prohibited him from firing one of his employees because he is a Shas man. The truth is that Mr. Avidan demanded that the head of the religious council hold the employee a lawful hearing and not fire him unlawfully. The hearing was canceled and the employee was returned to work, until he was dismissed after a hearing that was held as required. Mr. Avidan will continue to instruct all employees subordinate to him to act only in accordance with the law. We are confident that the case will be closed once all the facts become clear."

Tapiero’s attorney, Shahar Sheffer, said: "The details provided to the media by the attorney for Mr. Yehuda Avidan regarding his questioning by Lahav 433 on 07.06.26 are entirely inaccurate, and at the very least present a partial and misleading picture of the events. The claim that this was supposedly a benign demand to hold a lawful hearing does not reflect what actually happened." According to him, "The suspension process that they are trying to rely on was only the first stage of the disciplinary process, back in November 2024, regarding an employee against whom serious allegations of breach of trust and harm to integrity were made. It was דווקא in the second stage, in February 2025, after the dismissal process had progressed lawfully and in an orderly manner, that the director general of the Ministry of Religious Services and a senior official in the human resources division of the religious councils began exerting improper pressure and threats on the council head, in order to prevent the completion of the employee’s dismissal, a Shas member, whom they were eager to protect."

Sheffer further said: "It should be clarified that all the threats and pressures exerted by the director general of the Ministry of Religious Services and by the head of personnel in the religious councils were long ago submitted to the authorized investigative authorities, and were also attached as part of the factual basis in the petition filed by my client to the High Court of Justice, concerning the annulment of unlawful decisions advanced by Mr. Yehuda Avidan and directly linked to that same factual sequence. Not only were the pressures and threats voiced, they also took practical form through the use of unusual and improper administrative pressure mechanisms, including the appointment of a supervising accountant to the religious council in direct proximity to the dismissal proceedings, in a manner that appeared to be a punitive step and a means of weakening him and thwarting his authority as an elected council head, twice, unanimously." Sheffer added: "My client has given his version to law enforcement authorities, will continue to cooperate with any investigation, and is confident that reviewing the recordings, the conversations, the timeline and the documents will make clear that this was not a demand to uphold the law, but rather a serious pattern of improper interference in a lawful dismissal process involving a religious council employee. Naturally, in light of the ongoing investigation, my client will not elaborate further at this stage. However, he strongly rejects the attempt to portray him as someone who sought to act against the law. Quite the opposite is true, my client insisted on proper procedure, and that is why those improper pressures were exerted on him, pressures about which he complained to law enforcement authorities and regarding which he petitioned the High Court of Justice."

More on the corruption case in Nahariya: the deputy mayor and a known criminal were arrested. Corruption probe at the Histadrut: Minister Miki Zohar was questioned again by Lahav 433.