Knesset Member Esterina Tartman (Israel Our Home) should quit her Knesset position, according to 71 percent of respondents in an Israel Radio poll, Thursday. They indicated that merely cancelling her candidacy for Tourism Minister was an insufficient punishment for the allegations of dishonesty against her.
Meanwhile, a list of Tartman’s academic degrees has been removed from the Knesset website at her request.
The poll, conducted by Panorama Marketing, found that 75 percent of Israel Our Home members believe that Tartman should leave the Knesset, following numerous media reports of wrongdoing in recent days.
Knesset's official website before list of Tartman's academic degrees was removed. Circled text reads: "Master's degree: Business Administration, Management and Marketing, Jerusalem."
Eighty percent of Labor, 81 percent of Kadima and 65 percent of Likud respondents agreed. Seventy-five percent of recent immigrants to Israel from the former Soviet Union also said that Tartman should leave the Knesset.
Almost immediately after Israel Our Home Chairman Avigdor Lieberman announced that Tartman would be the party's candidate for Tourism Minister, a number of exposes concerning her past were revealed.
Sunday, Channel 2 Television published a doctor's statement sent to the Haifa district court several years ago, stating that Tartman was only able to work four hours a day, due to spinal injuries she suffered after a car accident in 1997.
Tuesday, Yedioth Aharonot revealed
that the MK, who said she held a Master's Degree in business, had never received a diploma and, in fact, had taken courses in an institute that does not grant official academic degrees.
Only a few hours later, it was reported that she also does not possess a BA from Bar Ilan University, as is posted on her resume on the Knesset's website.
Tartman's honesty came into question again Wednesday, when a Ynet expose
revealed that she went on trial four years ago after hitting a pedestrian in a car accident and trying to flee the scene.
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