Q&A Sharon corruption probes
BBC News Online looks at the key questions surrounding the corruption scandals that are increasingly damaging Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon.
What is Ariel Sharon alleged to have done wrong?
The Israeli prime minister is facing two separate investigations. Both involve his sons, and both relate to alleged infringements of election fund-raising laws.
In the first, Israeli businessman David Appel has been charged with trying to bribe Mr Sharon. The case relates to a property deal in Greece in the late 1990s.
Mr Appel is alleged to have paid hundreds of thousands of dollars to Mr Sharon's son Gilad, who he employed as a consultant. Gilad had no previous experience in the tourism industry.
A long term Likud Party supporter, Mr Appel is accused of helping to raise party election campaign funds for Mr Sharon, and Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert, in return for help in the Greek property deal.
Mr Sharon has been questioned by police over the allegations and has denied any wrongdoing.
What is the second scandal about?
The other investigation hanging over the Sharon family stems from an alleged infringement of election finance regulations in 1999 and 2000.
Mr Sharon spent $1.5m more than the law allows on his party leadership campaign. To repay this overspend, Mr Sharon sought to mortgage his family ranch. It emerged that the Sharons did not actually own all of the ranch.
In 2002, an old friend of Mr Sharon, South Africa-based British businessman Cyril Kern, transferred $1.5m into the bank accounts of the prime minister's sons, Gilad and Omri, a member of the Israeli parliament.
This allowed the Sharons to pay back the campaign overspend using Mr Kern's money as collateral against a loan.
The use of Mr Kern's money in this way may have been a further infringement of election finance rules, as Israeli political parties are not allowed to raise funds from abroad.
How deeply is Mr Sharon involved?
Mr Sharon was interviewed by police for seven hours in October in relation to both cases.
And the scandals are coming closer to implicating Mr Sharon directly.
Earlier in January, Israel's Channel 2 broadcast a tape recording from 1999 in which Mr Sharon appeared to be discussing campaign contributions from Europe and America. Mr Sharon has denied personal involvement in the illegal fund raising, saying that his sons had handled the finances.
The channel also showed a document that appeared to reveal a list of foreign currency accounts in Israeli banks which held the alleged illegal donations.
Could Mr Sharon be forced out of office?
If Mr Sharon is found to have committed a crime, he would certainly be forced to resign. Mr Sharon has not so far faced any criminal charges.
The Israeli media is full of speculation that Mr Sharon's job is under threat. According to one Israeli newspaper, his Likud Party is preparing itself for a possible leadership battle. The Maariv newspaper reports: "The move marks increasing talk within Likud ranks about when, rather than if the PM will resign."
The opposition Labor Party is planning to table a no-confidence vote in the prime minister.
It is also possible that the allegations and investigations will gradually damage Mr Sharon more and more, taking up more of his time and making it more difficult for him to govern.
This said, Mr Sharon is a very popular leader in Israel, and his governing coalition is stable and secure by the standards of Israeli governments.
Are these kind of scandals unusual in Israeli politics?
Financial scandals have dogged several Israeli prime ministers.
In 1977, Yitzhak Rabin resigned because his wife was found to hold a bank account in the United States - an infringement on foreign currency regulations.
Binyamin Netanyahu left office in 1999 under a cloud. He was being investigated over allegations that he and his wife had kept hundreds of gifts that should have been turned over to the state and the misuse of state funds. The allegations contributed to his heavy election defeat at the hands of Ehud Barak, but charges were eventually dropped.
Mr Barak also faced problems. He was questioned as part of an investigation into fund-raising irregularities in his 1999 election campaign. He denied any wrongdoing, saying he had no role in fund-raising.
Story from BBC NEWS:
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Published: 2004/01/21 12:36:03 GMT
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