“There’s a reason they’re picking on me. I am the symbol of the Likud,” Knesset member Oren Hazan said on a Dec. 13 Army Radio morning show. His mood was exuberant. He was full of self-confidence as he noted that the reason the media is picking on him and covers him so extensively is because “The prime minister and I are members of the same party. We’re not only colleagues, but friends, too.”

In Hazan’s imaginary parallel universe, “picking on” is just the right term to describe the coverage of all the scandals — the suspicions that he committed a felony, the disdain that he shows for the Knesset itself and his fellow Knesset members, and in fact the entire gamut of his bullying behaviors. On Dec. 3, the State Comptroller’s report determined that Hazan submitted a false affidavit, in which he claimed that he did not spend any of his own money on the Likud primary elections, when he actually spent tens of thousands of shekels of his own money. Under Israeli law, that is a felony with a maximum sentence of three years in prison. It is quite possible that a criminal investigation will be launched against him.

Just a few days earlier, on Nov. 24, Hazan mocked Knesset member Karin Elharar, who suffers from muscular dystrophy and is a wheelchair user. As a result, he was suspended from participating in any of the Knesset’s committees for one month. In an unrelated incident, the State Attorney General is expected to decide soon whether Hazan should be indicted, after a police recommendation that he be prosecuted for assaulting a public servant. Then there is the devastating investigative report by Channel 2, which looked into his earlier career as he managed a casino in Bulgaria. According to testimonies in that report, Hazan allegedly used hard drugs, provided drugs to his clients and even secured prostitutes for them. Hazan denied the accusations attributed to him in the report and sued Channel 2 for libel. Nevertheless, Channel 2 insists on standing by its report.

None of this dirty laundry prevents Hazan from living the good life, while branding himself as a “symbol of the Likud.” His many self-important appearances in the media and his domination of the social networks help him to build up his image as a rising star in the reinvigorated Youth Wing of the Likud. For example, on Dec. 10, he hosted a huge crowd at a Hanukkah party at an event hall. The guest list included supporters and Likud activists. Three Likud Knesset members were in attendance: former Director of the Shin Bet Avi Dichter, Yaron Mazuz and Miki Zohar. In his speech, Hazan claimed that he is being persecuted because of the incident with Elharar, when in fact, she cursed him out, so it is really her fault.