Oil and water are the subjects of two official inquiries into the activities of government-owned companies, one of which began here today. Involved is Netivel Neft whose oil drilling operations in the Sinai has given rise to charges of financial and moral corruption, and Vered, a water development company which has unaccountably lost over $10 million in operations abroad. The inquiry into alleged financial and moral corruption in the affairs of Netivel Neft opened this morning by a three-man panel headed by Supreme Court Justice Alfred Vitkon which was appointed last week at the Cabinet’s behest.
The committee will look into charges brought last May that operation of the Sinai oil fields has been marked by theft of government equipment and bribery of government officials. The main target of the probe is Mordechai Friedman, an oil man the government put in charge of Netivel Neft shortly after the Six-Day War. Several high ranking members of the government are alleged to have been involved at least peripherally with Friedman.
The investigation into the affairs of Vered will
The Archive of the Jewish Telegraphic Agency includes articles published from 1923 to 2008. Archive stories reflect the journalistic standards and practices of the time they were published.
