JERUSALEM, Nov. 23 (Xinhua) -- Israeli police said on Thursday that there is enough evidence to indict a former deputy chief of the National Security Council for corruption and money laundering in an affair involving a German businessman.
In 2016, Avriel Bar Yosef, deputy head of the National Security Council between 2009 and 2015, was nominated by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as the head of the council and his senior national security advisor, but the nominations were cancelled following public pressure over his alleged corruption.
On Thursday, the police recommended indicting Bar Yosef for bribery, deception, breach of trust and money laundering.
"According to suspicions, Bar Yosef received bribes from a German businessman, who invested hundreds of thousands of euros in a company owned by Bar Yosef's relative, in addition to other benefits," the police said in a statement.
"In return, it is suspected that Bar Yosef promoted business interests of the German businessman," the police said without revealing the identity of the German national.
Bar Yosef was supposed to promote the interests of the businessman in the Tzemach Committee, which discussed Israel's policy on its newly-found natural gas fields, the police said.
Bar Yosef was still in office during this time, according to the police.
The State Attorney's Office is expected to decide whether to press charges against him in the next few months, local media reported.
Bar Yosef is also a suspect in another major corruption affair, dubbed by the police "Case 3,000," in which several Netanyahu's confidants, including his cousin and personal attorney, are involved as suspects.
Over the past year, Israel has been shaken by a series of major corruption affairs involving high-ranking officials, including Netanyahu himself who is a suspect in two graft cases.
