Knesset Ethics Committee: Finance Minister did not break rules

The Knesset Ethics Committee on Monday said it did not find a factual basis to materialize worries of a possible conflict of interests concerning Finance Minister Abraham Hirchson.

The committee discussed accusations against Hirchson issued by Attorney General Menachem Mazuz, in order to determine whether the findings in an investigation into Hirchson conducted by the State Prosecution constitute a breach in MK ethics rules and justify taking measures against Hirchson.

According to the complaint issued against Hirchson, the finance minister employed a foreign worker with no work permit, while at the same time heading the Knesset Finance Committee, which was discussing possible ways to ease restrictions on those employing foreign workers.

The protocol of Finance Committee discussions allegedly indicates that Hirchson notified neither the Finance Committee nor the Ethics Committee of his personal interest in the matter and that Hirchson participated in the vote on reducing fees for employers.

Attorneys Eldad Yaniv and Ram Shabas notified the Ethics Committee on Hirchson's behalf that he was not in a conflict of interests, because the Finance Committee at the time was discussing the employment of foreign caretakers who arrive in Israel legally though human resources companies who pay taxes for them. Hirchson, on the other hand, was employing an illegal foreign worker and paying her wages directly, and not through a third party.

The illegal worker employed by Hirchson from 1995 was serving as a caretaker for his wife before her death, and in 1999, her legal work permit expired. The worker remained at Hirchson's home illegally to help him raise his children.

Following legal procedures, Hirchson was fined for the illegal employment of a foreign worker.