Jerusalem: Israeli police say they had found enough evidence for bribery and fraud charges to be brought against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife in the third corruption case linked to the Israeli leader.
Authorities allege Netanyahu awarded regulatory favours to the country’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 denies any wrongdoing.
If indicted, the four-term Prime Minister would be facing one of the greatest challenges to his political survival. Despite his dominance of Israeli politics, the newest police recommendation comes just after his right-wing coalition’s majority was reduced to a precarious one seat in Parliament.
The final decision on whether to indict rests with the Attorney-General, who is still weighing whether to charge Netanyahu in other two cases.
The earlier cases relate to allegations that Netanyahu accepted gifts from businessmen and that he tried to strike a deal with a different media mogul for better coverage in return for curbs on a competing newspaper.
Read the article by Maayan Lubell (Reuters) in The Sydney Morning Herald and The Australian.