Following a covert investigation, 18 suspects were arrested and detained this morning, including a deputy mayor in the north, on suspicion of public corruption offenses including bribery, fraud, and bid rigging.

According to suspicion, these connections led to the takeover by criminal elements of central power centers, primarily the tenders committee and the planning and construction committee. In addition, it is suspected that criminals collaborated with contractors in the north and senior municipal employees, and acted together, like a well-oiled machine, to advance their interests, including by rigging tenders through bribery and favors. In this way, criminal elements took over the municipality’s operations, pocketing millions of shekels, while at the same time, senior municipal officials exploited their public positions to receive bribes and favors.