Benjamin Netanyahu is the dominant Israeli politician of his generation. On the domestic and international stage, no rival comes close to the veteran Likud Party leader known widely as “Bibi”.
Israeli police on Tuesday recommended that the 67-year-old, four-term prime minister be indicted for bribery in two cases.
In the first, known as Case 1000, Netanyahu is accused of accepting nearly $380,000 in gifts between 2007 and 2016 from two businessmen, Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer – gifts that grew in “scope and frequency” after Netanyahu became prime minister in 2009.
Police have alleged that Netanyahu’s relationship with Milchan “was not an innocent relationship between friends”. Rather, Milchan gave him gifts “in return for his action” to help Milchan in concrete ways, including financially.
Packer’s gifts, dating to 2014, came to more than $88,000. “The two businessmen decided to share the prime minister’s costs between them,” police said.
According to police, Netanyahu should be charged with accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust in relation to Milchan and only the latter two crimes in connection with Packer, and Milchan should be charged with giving bribes. No recommendation about Packer was made.
Read the full article written by Jeffrey Heller at the Sydney Morning Herald.