Israeli ministers received funds from criminal Jewish-Belgian billionaire

A Jewish-Belgian diamond dealer based in Jerusalem who has previously been arrested for being part of an international drugs trade and money laundering, has funded two of the current Israeli cabinets, Channel 2 revealed yesterday.

The station said Serge Muller, who Interpol issued an international arrest warrant for and who has been held in a Montenegro prison for more than three months, paid 10,000 Israeli shekels ($2,609) for Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked during the internal elections.

He also maintains ties with two other ministers – Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan and Tourism Minister Yariv Levin. The channel said that he also paid money to them during the Likud vote.

Commenting on the news, Shaked said that she had submitted information about all donations she received during her campaign to the Public Prosecutor.

Meanwhile, Erdan’s office said: “Minister Erdan does not know the man and has never met him, Hundreds of people donated to the minister’s campaign and the donations were all legal.”

Regarding funds for Levin, his office said: “The minister does not know Muller and was not aware of the allegations. Had he known, he would not have accepted the donations.”

Muller’s family said: “The family donated over the years to the Zionist enterprise, the State of Israel and those who seek its benefit, all according to the law and without expecting any recompense, even in retrospect.”

The family said that the Belgian arrest warrant for Muller, who is a religious Jew who has been living in Jerusalem for five years, is anti-Semitic.