Shlomo Lahiani

Shlomo Lahiani
שלמה לחיאני
Shlomo Lahiani ; שלמה לחיאני
	Shlomo Lahiani
11th Mayor of Bat Yam
Personal details
Born	22 May 1965 (age 58)
Political party	Kadima
Military service
Allegiance	Israel

Shlomo Lahiani (Hebrew: שלמה לחיאני, born May 22, 1965) is a business owner and former Israeli politician. He was formerly mayor of Bat Yam. In 2014, following an investigation, Lahiani pleaded guilty to three counts of breach of public trust.^[1]^[2]

Biography[edit]

Shlomo Lahiani was born in Israel. His father was an immigrant from Bengazi, Libya.

Political career[edit]

In 1997, he founded the independent political movement Bat Yam BeRosh Muram (Hebrew: בת ים בראש מורם, "Bat Yam with its head held high"). In 1998, the movement won five seats on the Bat Yam city council. He served as a city council member and leader of the opposition from 1998 until 2003, when he became mayor. he was first elected mayor as a Labour-backed independent in 2003 with 45% of the vote, beating the Likud candidate.^[3]^[4] He was subsequently re-elected, with 86.3% of the vote, reportedly the highest ever in a large Israeli city, in 2008.^[5]

Public activism[edit]

In 2000, he founded Ohavim, a non-profit organization with the goal of improving welfare and child care, and managing soup kitchens in the city.

Controversy[edit]

In December 2009, Lahiani was arrested on charges of fraud, breach of trust, embezzlement and following a two-year undercover investigation.^[6] Lahiani was indicted in April 2013 with breach of trust.^[7]

In a plea bargain reached in 2014, Lahiani pleaded guilty to three reduced charges of breach of trust.^[1] On September 30, 2014, he was given six months of community service, as well as a six-month suspended sentence and a 250,000-shekel (US$67,840) fine, and barred from politics for seven years.^[2] He admitted to using money from the bribes to pay debts of his construction company, Alshav.^[2]

References[edit]

^ ^a ^b Baum, Ido (2014-05-09). "Bat Yam mayor plea bargain deal for all". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
^ ^a ^b ^c Lior, Ilan. "Convicted Bat Yam mayor banned from politics for 7 years". Haaretz. Retrieved October 1, 2014.
^ "Lahiani stands as a Labour-backed independent". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21. ^{[dead link]}
^ "Likud loses control of several major cities". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21.^{[dead link]}
^ "Who's your mayor? A look at the results of the '08 mayoral races". Haaretz. 2003-11-13. Archived from the original on 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2014-08-07.
^ Oster, Marcy (2009-12-29). "Israeli mayor arrested for fraud". JTA. Retrieved 2014-09-19.
^ Hovel, Revital (2009-04-23). "Prosecution: Bat Yam mayor to be indicted pending a hearing". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.

[good_deal-1] Baum, Ido (2014-05-09). "Bat Yam mayor plea bargain deal for all". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.

[banned-2] Lior, Ilan. "Convicted Bat Yam mayor banned from politics for 7 years". Haaretz. Retrieved October 1, 2014.

[3] "Lahiani stands as a Labour-backed independent". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21. ^{[dead link]}

[4] "Likud loses control of several major cities". Haaretz. 2003-10-29. Retrieved 2009-11-21.^{[dead link]}

[5] "Who's your mayor? A look at the results of the '08 mayoral races". Haaretz. 2003-11-13. Archived from the original on 2008-11-25. Retrieved 2014-08-07.

[6] Oster, Marcy (2009-12-29). "Israeli mayor arrested for fraud". JTA. Retrieved 2014-09-19.

[7] Hovel, Revital (2009-04-23). "Prosecution: Bat Yam mayor to be indicted pending a hearing". Haaretz. Retrieved 2014-09-19.

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