Sharon bribery probe to be dropped

Israel’s attorney general is expected to announce today that he is closing a corruption case against Prime Minister Ariel Sharon, officials close to the case said.

Sharon has been under investigation for months on suspicion that he accepted bribes from a powerful property developer.

Israeli media reported in recent weeks that Attorney General Meni Mazuz does not believe there is enough evidence to indict Sharon.

Mazuz has declined to comment, but officials close to the case said today that he has decided to close the file.

Such a decision would give a strong push to Sharon, who is trying to move forward with plans to withdraw from the Gaza Strip.

It would also enable the prime minister to bring the opposition Labour Party into his coalition and restore the parliamentary majority he lost last week, over the Gaza plan.

Labour, which backs a Gaza pullback, has said it would not consider joining the government unless Sharon is cleared.

Labour leader Shimon Peres said today that even if the case against Sharon is closed it would “not necessarily” mean his party would join. “We’re not in anyone’s pocket,” he said.

At the centre of the corruption case were allegations that Israeli businessman David Appel paid Sharon’s son Gilad huge cash incentives to help push through a lucrative property deal in Greece, at a time when Sharon was foreign minister in 1999. In the end, the project did not go through.

Appel has been indicted for allegedly paying the bribes but under Israeli law, prosecutors must prove that the recipient of a bribe was aware of the improper payments.