Israeli PM assures supporters as police move for indictment
By Abhishek G Bhaya
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Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought to assure his supporters late on Wednesday that there’s “nothing” to be “nervous” about amid reports that police will recommend his indictment over charges of corruption and breach of trust.
“Many of you are asking, what will happen? So I want to reassure you: There will be nothing, because I know the truth,” Netanyahu said in a video message posted on his Facebook account.
“The State of Israel is a state of law. The law says that the one to determine whether there is evidence against the Prime Minister is the attorney general and he consults with the state attorney,” he explained, adding: “The state prosecutor recently said in the Knesset that about half of the police's recommendations end with nothing.”
Urging his supporters not to be “nervous,” the Israeli Prime Minister said: “So do not be nervous. They may say ‘guilty until proven innocent.’ But I am sure that at the end of the day the competent legal bodies will come to one conclusion, to the simple truth: There is nothing.”
Netanyahu’s video message followed reports in the Israeli media which claimed Israeli police chiefs will recommend to the country’s attorney general that Netanyahu be indicted on charges including bribery and breach of trust.
The Times of Israel reported on Wednesday evening that police chiefs, including the general commissioner of Israel's police force Roni Alsheich, were in "unanimous agreement that there is sufficient evidence to indict Netanyahu for bribe taking in Case 1000 or the so-called 'gifts affair'."
It has been reported that the police would send their recommendation for indictment to Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who will have a final say on the matter.
Case 1000 refers to the allegations that Netanyahu and his wife Sara received "illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan," according to the report.
The Times of Israel report said that the police are, however, divided on whether they have enough evidence to press criminal charges against the prime minister on Case 2000, which involved a "suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister weaken a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth."
Then there is the Case 3000, which involves allegations of corruption and bribery in a multibillion-dollar submarine deal with Germany. While Netanyahu has not been named as a suspect in that case, members of his close circle have been arrested.
Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing and defended his innocence, claiming investigations are part of a political campaign to unseat him.
But pressure has mounted on the police in recent times, and they have recommended that Sara be indicted on a charge of misuse of funds. To add to the woes of Israel's first family, an audio recording of the couple’s oldest son, Yair, in which he brags about prostitutes and a 20-billion-US-dollar deal for a friend’s dad during a night of excess in Tel Aviv’s strip clubs, was leaked last month.