The Tel Aviv District Court today approved a plea bargain agreement with Minister of Finance Moshe Kahlon. He was handed an eight month suspended sentence for a probationary period of three years, a NIS 180,000 fine, and banned from holding an executive position with a public company for 18 months. Kahlon, who served as chairman of non-bank finance company UnetCredit in 2021-2022, admitted to reporting offenses under the Securities Law.

The issue of disgrace

The plea agreement and the court's decision do not include a reference to the issue of defamation, as Kahlon is not currently a public figure. However, the issue may arise if Kahlon returns to politics ahead of the upcoming elections. Thus, Kahlon may face a petition to the High Court of Justice against the approval of his candidacy for the Knesset as someone who was convicted of crimes and given a suspended prison sentence.

If Kahlon seeks to be appointed as a minister in the government formed after the elections, he may benefit from the law enacted at the beginning of the current Knesset term for Shas Chairman Aryeh Deri. According to the law, the approval of the Chairman of the Central Elections Committee is no longer required for the appointment as a member of the government of someone who has been sentenced to probation. Such approval is now only required for someone who has been sentenced to actual imprisonment.

The High Court of Justice did insist that this was a personal amendment, but refrained from interfering with it. The judges disqualified Deri's appointment as minister, based on reasonable grounds and due to his past criminal convictions.

Serious irregularities

According to the indictment to which Kahlon admitted, after being informed in early 2022 of material irregularities at the Nazareth branch of UnetCredit, he failed to act for four months to bring the full information to the attention of the company's board of directors and the public, as required by the Securities Law.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on May 31, 2026.

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2026.