ISRAELI police detained several senior officials from the country’s main trade union federation, the Histadrut, on Monday, including its chairman Arnon Bar-David, as part of a major corruption investigation.

Authorities said the probe, which has been ongoing for more than two years, involves allegations of bribery, fraud, breach of trust, money laundering and tax offences. 

Dozens of suspects have already been detained, with around 350 individuals, including local authority heads and senior business figures, expected to be questioned in the coming days.

Among those questioned are 35 senior officials from municipalities across the country, several of whom were taken into custody, including Mr Bar-David and his partner.

Police said the undercover investigation revealed that senior officials in local authorities allegedly accepted bribes and benefits from businesspeople in exchange for promoting their companies and interests.

Israel Police chief Danny Levy described the case as “one of the most serious we have investigated,” adding that it exposed “a connection between businesspeople and senior figures in the economy, including labour unions, for both electoral and promotional purposes.”