Police Question Sharon in Graft Inquiry

Members of a special police unit questioned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon for more than two hours at his official residence Thursday in connection with a long-simmering bribery scandal, while some political foes derided his talk this week of a possible Israeli withdrawal from the Gaza Strip as a smokescreen for his legal troubles.

Sharon’s interlocutors, from a national police unit dedicated to serious crimes, were seeking information about a resort development deal in Greece that allegedly involved one of the prime minister’s sons and a former close business associate of the family, police said.

Spokesman Gil Kleiman described Sharon, who also was questioned about the affair in October, as fully cooperative. Israel Radio, citing police sources, said the prime minister denied any wrongdoing.

“This was a summing-up interview -- we were rounding out matters discussed in previous discussions, filling in gaps,” Kleiman said. No further police questioning of the Israeli leader was being contemplated, he said.

Corruption scandals are a common feature of the Israeli political landscape, and it was difficult to assess whether this one yet poses a serious threat to Sharon. But if the case moves forward, an indictment could force him from office at what appears to be a crucial juncture in the nation’s dealings with the Palestinians.

Sharon set off a furor when he said in an interview published in the newspaper Haaretz this week that he had ordered plans drafted for the possible dismantling of Jewish settlements in the Gaza Strip. Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert told Israeli radio that he had affirmed that position in talks Thursday in Washington with Secretary of State Colin L. Powell.

Right-wing opponents of any proposal to uproot the Jewish settlements seized on the police inquiry as evidence that Sharon had been seeking to divert attention from the bribery accusations when he spoke about Gaza.

“The intensity of the [police] inquiry is equivalent to the intensity of discussion about evacuation,” said Zvi Hendel, a member of the Knesset, or parliament, who lives in one of the Gaza settlements.

Sharon’s potential personal exposure in the bribery case was notably heightened last month when David Appel, a well-known property developer active in the prime minister’s Likud Party, was charged with trying to pay off the Israeli leader in exchange for political favors.

Prosecutors alleged that one of Sharon’s sons, Gilad, was hired in the late 1990s as a consultant in the purchase of a Greek resort island, although he had little relevant business experience, and that the money was intended to buy the backing of Sharon, who was foreign minister at the time. The island deal was never consummated.

Israeli media quoted sources in the Justice Ministry as saying no decision had been made as to whether to move against Ariel Sharon, but that such a determination was likely in the next two to three months.

The indictment of Appel did not cite any evidence that Sharon had knowingly accepted funds in exchange for helping to pave the way for Appel’s dealings. Israeli law allows for one person to be convicted of giving a bribe without the alleged recipient being convicted of taking it.