BYE BYE GAZA - Barry Chamish

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It was abruptly announced on Sunday, a day after the above
news broke, that Peres had resigned from the Knesset. He
supplied no reason for his resignation.
Peres received $320,000 for the Labor Party primaries,
which he lost to Amir Peretz despite polls predicting a
landslide in his favor.
The donations, far in excess of the 36,000 shekel
(approximately $8,000) per donor allowed by law, came from
billionaires Chaim Saban, S. Daniel Abraham and Bruce
Rappaport.
The State Comptroller refused to release the details of the
investigation, but his office released a statement saying,
"The comptroller views with great severity what transpired
during the primaries, certainly without referring specifically to
Shimon Peres."
A spokeswoman said the investigation is ongoing and has
not yet concluded.
The investigation was made possible by a law passed in the
last days of the 16th Knesset, allowing the Comptroller to
investigate candidates' violations of the campaign funding
law in primaries, and not only in general elections.
Peres' lawyer told Army Radio that "all donations were given
according to the law, and approved by the [Labor] party's
comptroller."
All three donors in question serve on the board of the Peres
Center for Peace. Saban was, in the past, investigated for
illegal funding of Ehud Barak's second election campaign.
S. Daniel Abraham has long been involved in Peres's
independent diplomatic initiatives on behalf of the Jewish
state. He founded the Center for Middle East Peace and