TEL AVIV, Israel, Feb. 27 (UPI) -- The educational credentials of Prime Minister Ehud Olmert's candidate for Israeli tourism minister has been challenged.
Esterina Tartman was given the nod Sunday by the cabinet, as was Issac Herzog as minister of social welfare and Ghaleb Majadele as minister of science, culture and sports. The appointments now require Knesset approval but Tartman is now in hot water.
She claimed she had a master's degree but Monday it seemed she is not even a college graduate. According to the Israel Beitenu party's website she had studied at Bar Ilan University but the university's spokesman, Shmuel Elgrabli, told United Press International they searched their computer lists, going back 31 years, and found no record of her ever studying there. Tartman is 48 years old.
"Mrs. Tartman should explain, herself, what she studied," the spokesman said.
One network meanwhile reported she had won $600,000 in compensation after convincing judges she was badly hurt in a road accident and that for the rest of her life she can work only work only four hours a day. In an interview with Haaretz she confirmed that her long and short-term memory and her powers of concentration are compromised.
Haaretz said that "documents in the case have revealed that shortly after the accident, she was maintaining a busy schedule, including long hours of political activity."
In a television interview, Tartman said "the problem still exists, but I have acquired skills to deal with it, and to minimize it."
Party leader Avigdor Liberman, who nominated her, must decide whether to go ahead with the appointment.
