Weizman faces graft charge

JERUSALEM, JAN. 4. The Israeli President, Mr. Ezer Weizman, a crotchety outspoken political veteran, faces pressure to resign over his endorsement of an Israeli withdrawal from the Golan Heights and revelations that he has accepted substantial undisclosed financial gifts from a French executive.

A blunt opinionated man who has ignored the constraints of his supposedly nonpartisan post, Mr. Weizman outraged the right wing last week when he announced that he would ``go home'' in disappointment if the public voted down an eventual Israeli- Syrian peace deal. Several legislators demanded that he immediately resign instead. He came under fire again when an investigative journalist revealed last Thursday that Mr. Weizman had received some $450,000 in the form of monthly cash allowances between 1988 and 1993 from the executive, Mr. Edouard Zaroussi.

In those years, Mr. Weizman, who has been a public figure since the State was born, was a legislator and Cabinet Minister. The journalist, Mr. Yoav Yitzhak, did not publish a story but called a news conference to release his findings. He contended that Mr. Weizman had broken the law by failing to report the money to the Parliament and to the tax authorities.

In a statement, Mr. Weizman acknowledged receiving the money but rejected the idea that he should have disclosed it. The statement said the money was a personal gift from a friend who had no ties to Israel, and that it was not considered taxable income by law. Although Mr. Zaroussi does not have known business ties here, he does own a house here and has been linked with political and business ventures here, according to Israeli news reports.

- New York Times

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Section  : International
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