A source close to Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman
told The Jerusalem Post that his trial will not start until
after the coming elections.  The acknowledgement makes it less
likely he will be able to immediately return to being a minister
in any new government, though he still might be able to return
eventually if acquitted.  Liberman resigned as foreign minister
almost a month ago when the state notified him that he was about
to be indicted.  The case, known as the Belarus Ambassador
Affair, involves allegations that the Yisrael Beytenu chairman
failed to report former ambassador to Belarus Ze’ev Ben-Aryeh
for leaking information to him regarding a money-laundering
investigation, and that he helped Ben-Aryeh gain promotions in
the Foreign Ministry in return.  Liberman denies the
allegations.  At the time of his resignation, he made several
hard public pushes to wrap up the trial before elections so he
could run and return to being a minister without any cloud
hanging over him.  Although some com