Kfar Saba Mayor Arrested in Major Public Corruption and Bribery Probe

Kfar Saba, one of the most tranquil and established cities in Israel's Sharon region, finds itself once again at the center of a severe public corruption scandal. Less than a decade after former mayor Yehuda Ben Hamo was convicted and imprisoned for stealing donation money intended for needy families, his successor, current mayor Rafi Saar, has been arrested.

The Downfall of Yehuda Ben Hamo

For some 15 years, Yehuda Ben Hamo served as the mayor of Kfar Saba, first elected in 2003 until his downfall in 2018. An investigation by the National Fraud Unit (Lahav 433) exposed a systematic mechanism operating from within the mayor's office, where purchasing vouchers donated by local business owners for the holidays were systematically embezzled.

According to the court verdict, out of roughly 600,000 shekels in vouchers collected over the years, vouchers worth approximately 250,000 shekels remained under Ben Hamo's control. He pocketed about 190,000 shekels for himself and distributed the rest to associates and office staff, while only a portion actually reached the needy families.

In October 2021, the Lod District Court convicted Ben Hamo of theft by a public servant, aggravated fraud, breach of trust, and tax offenses. In April 2022, Judge Ami Kobo sentenced him to two years in prison and a fine of 200,000 shekels, ruling that this was not a momentary lapse but driven by greed. Following an appeal by the State Attorney's Office, the Supreme Court increased his sentence to two and a half years in prison and a fine of 300,000 shekels in October 2022.

The Arrest of Current Mayor Rafi Saar

Following Ben Hamo's resignation in 2018, Rafi Saar was elected to lead the municipality. However, early Monday morning, history repeated itself as investigators from Lahav 433 arrived at the upper echelons of local government once again.

Mayor Rafi Saar was arrested alongside his wife and the CEO of the municipal economic company, following a covert investigation that lasted over a year. The suspects are accused of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering, and tax offenses.

"According to the police suspicion, the mayor and the economic company CEO acted to benefit business owners in exchange for cash bribes, helping them win lucrative municipal tenders," police officials stated.

Investigators also suspect unusual involvement by the mayor's wife in the illicit mechanism, alongside indications pointing to connections with known criminal figures from central Israel involved in the bribery scheme and violent offenses.