Israeli PM Netanyahu faces new corruption charges

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Israeli police said on Sunday that they had enough evidence to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife for bribery and fraud in a third corruption case, prompting new calls for his resignation.

Authorities allege Netanyahu awarded regulatory favors to Israel's leading telecommunications company, Bezeq Telecom Israel, in return for more positive coverage of him and his wife on a news website, Walla, owned by the company.

Netanyahu immediately rejected the accusations, but the cases against him have led to speculation he could be forced to step down.

Now in his fourth term, Netanyahu dominates Israeli politics. Yet he is politically unusually vulnerable as his right-wing coalition's majority has shrunk to a precarious single seat.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his wife Sara (L) at an event at the start of Hanukkah in Ramat Gan, Israel, December 2, 2018. /VCG Photo

Police in February already recommended indicting Netanyahu in two other corruption investigations, relating to allegations he and his family accepted gifts from businessmen totaling around one million shekels (270,000 U.S. dollars) and that he tried to strike a deal with another media mogul for better coverage in return for curbs on a competing newspaper.

The attorney general still has to decide whether to bring indictments against the prime minister.

In the findings announced on Sunday following a long-running investigation, police said there was evidence to charge Netanyahu with bribery, fraud, breach of trust and unlawful acceptance.

They recommended Sara Netanyahu face charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust and obstruction of justice.

Police said their investigation found that between 2012 and 2017, "the prime minister and his confidantes crudely and consistently, at times on a daily basis, intervened in the content published by the Walla news website."

"(They) sought to influence the appointments of people (writers and editors) within the website," the statement also said, adding that their efforts were "aimed at advancing his personal interests by publishing flattering articles and pictures, removing content critical of the prime minister and his family, and so forth."

Avi Gabbay, head of the opposition Labour party, speaks at a conference in Jerusalem, Israel, November 1, 2017. /VCG Photo

Netanyahu has repeatedly called the allegations against him a plot by his political enemies to remove him from office.

In a speech to his Likud party in Tel Aviv on Sunday, he slammed "the pre-determined recommendations, the deliberate leaks, the tainted process and the false allegations about me and my wife."

"(The investigation) has been a match-fix," Netanyahu said.

The head of the opposition Labour party, Avi Gabbay, nevertheless renewed his call for Netanyahu to step down.

"Netanyahu has become a burden on Israel. He must resign," he said.

"A man driven by a crazy obsession of what the media will say about him can't lead Israel," he tweeted.

Most of Netanyahu's coalition partners have said they will wait for a decision by the attorney general before deciding how to proceed.

The next election is not due until November 2019 and Netanyahu has said he wants to serve out his term.

But politicians close to him say that his precarious parliamentary situation means an early election is likely.

However, polls suggest he would still win if elections were to be held now despite the accusations.

Source(s): AFP ,Reuters