A key witness in a sweeping public corruption investigation involving Israel’s national labor federation died by suicide on Sunday, police said Monday morning.
The man had provided testimony to Lahav 433 — Israel Police's national anti-corruption and organized crime unit, often compared to the FBI — and had not been questioned as a suspect.
The witness had supervised construction work on the private home of Arnon Bar-David, the head of the Histadrut, Israel’s powerful national trade union federation, and his wife, Hila.
The investigation, revealed earlier this month, has been described by police as “one of the largest public corruption cases ever examined in Israel.” More than 260 people have already been questioned or provided testimony, including 35 suspects. Those include senior Histadrut officials, municipal employees and figures in major government-affiliated institutions.
At the center of the probe are Bar-David and insurance agent Ezra Gabay. Their family members — Hila Bar-David and Gabay’s son, Asaf — were also arrested on suspicion of involvement.
Last week, Bar-David admitted during questioning that he had received money from Gabay after investigators confronted him with an audio recording.
Police believe Bar-David and his wife received benefits from Gabay — including cash, flights and meals at luxury restaurants — allegedly in exchange for helping direct thousands of workers to purchase insurance through Gabay’s private agency, Gabay Insurance.
Gabay, a businessman and prominent activist in the ruling Likud Party who is considered close to Bar-David, is suspected of running a multimillion‑shekel bribery and kickback network. According to police, he allegedly offered jobs, promotions and other favors in return for influence and appointments to senior positions in public institutions.
“The scope of the stolen funds, enabled through the abuse of public office, stretches across the entire country,” police investigators said.
The case was investigated covertly for two years before becoming public earlier this month, when police launched a large wave of coordinated arrests. The investigation began after intelligence reached the National Fraud and Economic Crimes Unit, which conducted prolonged surveillance on senior Histadrut officials, including Bar-David.
Israeli police conduct raids at multiple Histadrut offices across the country as part of a sweeping corruption probe involving senior officials in the national labor federation
(Video: Israel Police)
In addition to Arnon and Hila Bar-David, and Ezra and Asaf Gabay, another 31 suspects are under investigation. They include Shabi Michaeli, a top Histadrut official; Roi Yaakov, deputy head of the Histadrut; Liav Eliyahu, head of the Israel Railways workers’ union; and businessman Daniel Siegreich. Also implicated are several mayors, union chiefs in local governments and major state-linked companies and senior officials in KKL-JNF, the Jewish National Fund.
Police continue to investigate the full scope of the alleged bribery network.