A military court must decide shortly whether to accept the plea bargain of Brig. Gen. Rami Dotan, former head of the Israel air force purchasing mission in New York, who was arrested last October.
Dotan was found guilty Sunday of serious criminal conduct by a special court-martial sitting at Israel Defense Force general headquarters.
According to Dotan’s attorneys, he is prepared to confess, among other things, to 12 counts of corruption, bribery, illegally absconding with at least $12 million in Defense Ministry funds and conspiracy to murder.
He promises to return all of the money illegally obtained, cooperate with the military investigation and name his accomplices.
He will accept in exchange a maximum 13-year prison sentence, reduction in rank to private and a dishonorable discharge.
But the military court postponed a decision after hearing summations Sunday and a closed-door interview with Dotan.
The 46-year-old general is the most senior IDF officer to stand trial on such grave charges.
Apart from fraud and embezzlement, he is accused of conspiracy to induce an IDF sergeant major, the highest rank of non-commissioned officer, to murder the so-called “whistle-blower” in the case, Ofer Pa’il.
Pa’il worked at the purchasing mission in New York under Dotan’s command in the mid-1980s.
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