Sderot mayor announces indefinite leave of absence

Sderot Mayor Eli Moyal announced Tuesday that he would be taking an indefinite leave of absence from office, pending the results of the police investigation against him.

Moyal is being investigated for alleged financial irregularities involving city funds. "I refuse to go on as mayor with a cloud hanging over my head and I won't have my staff feeling uncomfortable around me because they're cooperating with the police," he told Ynet.

The decision, he said, was a personal one: "Unfortunately, I have been the subject of terrible slander lately… I planned to stage a mass rally in Jerusalem on Wednesday (to protest the security situation in Sderot) but I don't want people to say I'm only doing it because I'm under investigation."

Six months ago, the police launched an investigation into alleged financial irregularities at Sderot's municipality. According to suspicions, Moyal favored several local businesses and rigged city bids worth millions of dollars their way.

National Fraud Unit investigators raided Moyal's office on Monday, confiscating documents and financial records. Moyal himself has not been called in for questioning yet.

Is leaving Sderot in the midst of a Qassam barrage the right thing to do? Moyal said he felt he had little choice in the matter. "We may be under fire, but I don't control the police investigation's timetable.

"I know this investigation will amount to nothing, but I don't know how long it's going to take… I have no intention of going on like this, with all these rumors floating around.

"I've never been questioned by the police, never asked to comment on these accusations, which make me sound like some criminal master mind," he said.

Sources close to Moyal told Ynet that while he did not mind the police searching his office, their timing – just hours after Qassam rockets hit the city – upset him.

Rabbi Oren Malka, Moyal's deputy, will be acting as mayor in his absence.