Senior Likud Figures and Businessmen Questioned in Multi-Million Shekel Economic Crime Probe

On Monday, four prominent figures connected to the Likud party were detained for questioning by the Lahav 433 unit on suspicion of economic offenses involving millions of shekels. Those questioned included contractor Dudi Apple, who has been undergoing bankruptcy proceedings since 2012; former Likud Knesset member and head of the party's appeals court, attorney Michael Kleiner; and businessmen brothers Yaffa Dayan and Yitzhak Dayan. The suspects were interrogated at the Lahav 433 offices alongside the official overseeing bankruptcy and economic rehabilitation processes, amid allegations of concealing ownership rights in real estate assets and smuggling assets while under bankruptcy proceedings.

Dudi Apple, who previously served a prison sentence for bribery, was filmed leaving the interrogation and accused others of fraud and theft, stating he would not back down. Apple was historically linked to Likud's early days, having brokered a deal between Dudi Levy's camp and Benjamin Netanyahu in 1988. The investigation alleges Apple hid real estate assets worth tens of millions of shekels and transferred assets while in bankruptcy, violating disclosure obligations.

Police sources indicated the suspects acted in a sophisticated and systematic manner to hide their rights from authorities and illicitly profit. Following the interrogation, the suspects were released to their homes, but the investigation continues, with significant property seized for potential confiscation.

Apple's lawyer, Ephraim Damri, described the case as old and questioned why enforcement authorities are revisiting events from 14 years ago. The Dayan brothers' attorneys, Uri Korav and Sivan Russo, stated their clients are law-abiding businessmen and that the ongoing investigation, covering events over a decade old, has yielded no evidence of wrongdoing.