Major Israeli Shipping Firm Accused by Washington of Doing Illicit Business with Iran
June 3rd, 2011Update: And now: Scandal-Hit Israeli Billionaire Sami Ofer Found Dead
Via: BBC:
Sami Ofer, an Israeli billionaire at the centre of a scandal over business contacts with Iran, has died at his home in Tel Aviv.
Israeli media reported the 89-year-old had passed away after a long illness.
The US last month imposed sanctions on the Ofer Brothers Group, co-owned by Mr Ofer and his brother Yuli, accusing it of selling an oil tanker to a blacklisted Iranian firm.
The Ofers denied any wrongdoing, saying the US had made an unfortunate mistake.
Forbes magazine recently said the brothers were the richest men in Israel with interests in shipping, chemicals, real estate worth $10.3bn (£6.3bn) in total.
—End Update—
Via: Reuters:
A secret note passed in parliament to halt a televised oversight committee meeting has stoked a scandal in Israel over a major shipping firm accused by Washington of doing illicit business with Iran.
Ofer Brothers Group, owned by Israel’s richest family, denied wrongdoing after its surprise inclusion on a U.S. State Department blacklist last week, but its refusal to address a slew of media speculation about past links with Israel’s security services only deepened the mystery.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, seeing influential compatriots charged with undermining the sanctions against Tehran that he has championed, gave a muted response, saying that his government had approved no deals with the Iranians.
Lawmakers met on Tuesday to discuss legal aspects of the case in an economic oversight panel. But the meeting, aired live on television, was adjourned abruptly within minutes after the chairman, Carmel Shama-Hacohen, received a note from an aide.
The freshman legislator, a member of Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party, went stone-faced and did not reveal its contents.
“Let’s just be clear the note is not from a political figure and not from a business figure,” Shama-Hacohen said, leaving open the possibility of an appeal by the defence establishment.
“It turns out that reality is much more complex, much more complicated and touchy than the average imagination can handle.”
Research Credit: afterhours
