Faina Kirschenbaum

Kirschenbaum was born in Lviv, immigrated to Israel in 1973, and later settled in Nili.[3] She became a central organizational figure in Yisrael Beiteinu and served as its secretary-general. The Jerusalem Post characterized her as party chairwoman and Avigdor Lieberman's right hand from 2003 to 2014.[2]

She was first elected to the Knesset in 2009 and appeared as candidate number 19 on the Likud-Beiteinu joint list for the January 2013 election to the 19th Knesset.[8][9] The Jewish Virtual Library lists her as Deputy Minister of the Interior in Israel's Thirty-Third Government, which served from March 18, 2013, to December 3, 2014.[1] As Yisrael Beiteinu secretary-general, she was responsible for distributing state-budget allocations made available as the party's coalition funds, totaling approximately NIS 1.2 billion.[10]

In January 2015, Kirschenbaum stepped down from the Knesset amid the corruption investigation. She said she would leave public life and not stand in the next election so that she could defend her innocence and rebuild her family. She also said that invoking the right to remain silent carried significant consequences for a public figure.[11]

The investigation that eventually led to Kirschenbaum's prosecution had an unusual reported starting point. In March 2013, her attendance at the national women's basketball league finals prompted Israel Basketball Association board member Shaul Eisenberg to question her presence. Eisenberg and fellow board member Zvi Sherf subsequently examined a reported NIS 1 million donation to the association and found a payment of approximately NIS 100,000 to Batya Cohen, wife of Agriculture Ministry director-general Rami Cohen, recorded as a commission. The two board members brought their findings to police in August 2013.[12]

The wider probe expanded significantly. By the end of 2014, police had announced the arrest of 31 suspects in a bribery and corruption ring involving alleged political kickbacks. Investigators alleged that cash had been improperly directed to NGOs in exchange for appointments of family members and that some payments were returned to public officials as bribes or benefits.[13]

In 2017, prosecutors indicted Kirschenbaum on charges including bribery, breach of trust, fraud, money laundering, and tax offenses. The indictment alleged that between 2006 and the opening of the public investigation in 2014, she used her positions and control over budget appropriations to obtain improper benefits for herself, family members, Yisrael Beiteinu, and party associates. The alleged benefits included travel and hotel expenses, while some organizations seeking state allocations were allegedly required to return part of the funds or provide other benefits.[4]

On March 25, 2021, the Tel Aviv District Court convicted Kirschenbaum in Case 242, also known as the Yisrael Beiteinu affair. The nearly 1,000-page judgment found that over six years she had systematically taken bribes from eight unrelated sources totaling approximately NIS 2 million, with the benefits flowing to Kirschenbaum, family members, confidants, and the party. She was acquitted of a small portion of the allegations.[4] The sources of the bribes included the Samaria Development Company, the Megilot Local Council, the Ayalim Association, and the Mateh Binyamin community center, with the offenses occurring between 2008 and 2014.[10]

The conviction comprised 15 counts of taking bribes, four counts of soliciting bribes, three counts of fraud and breach of trust, 15 money-laundering counts, and six counts of using fraud to evade tax.[5] The scheme involved direct payments and benefits including free hotel rooms, electronics, and paid jobs for family members and party associates.[2]

On July 14, 2021, Judge Yaron Levy sentenced Kirschenbaum to 10 years in prison, 12 months' suspended imprisonment, a fine of NIS 900,000, and forfeiture of NIS 1 million.[5] The judge described her conduct as systematic and sophisticated, stressed the importance of deterrence, and emphasized the obligation to protect public funds.[5][10] Kirschenbaum began serving her sentence at Neve Tirtza prison in December 2021.[6]

Kirschenbaum and co-defendant Rami Cohen, a former director-general of the Agriculture Ministry, appealed their convictions and sentences to the Supreme Court. They later withdrew the portions of their appeals challenging the convictions, after which the court rejected those grounds.[6]

On August 24, 2022, the Supreme Court partially granted the sentencing appeals and reduced Kirschenbaum's prison term from 10 years to 7.5 years and her fine from NIS 900,000 to NIS 500,000, while leaving the NIS 1 million forfeiture in place. The court cited the lighter sentences imposed in other cases, the absence at the time of an orderly party mechanism for allocating coalition funds, and the more difficult prison conditions faced by women at Neve Tirtza.[6] Her lawyers had argued that the prosecution exaggerated the affair's severity and that the original sentence was disproportionately harsh.[2]

A parole board later shortened her sentence by one-third, and a March 18, 2026 report said she had been released from Neve Tirtza after serving approximately four years.[7] The report said she remained imprisoned longer in lieu of paying NIS 250,000, although the 2022 appeal coverage reported that the Supreme Court had reduced her fine to NIS 500,000.[7][6] A former fellow prisoner described Kirschenbaum as a prison cook who helped other inmates and spoke to them "as if they were her daughters."[7]

Kirschenbaum's case became closely associated with the risks of corrupt control over coalition-budget allocations. In sentencing her, the District Court emphasized the damage that systematic favoritism and misuse of public money could cause to equality, respect for the law, public service, and public trust.[5] Although the Supreme Court reduced her punishment on proportionality and prison-condition grounds, it maintained that the offenses required a significant sentence.[6]

The timing of the investigation became politically contested because it involved senior Yisrael Beiteinu figures shortly before the 2015 general election. Counter-allegations held that Avigdor Lieberman and his party were being deliberately targeted. Police disputed that characterization, stating that the year-long investigation had begun before early elections were announced.[13]