Benjamin Netanyahu loses bid to delay graft hearing

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lost a bid to have a hearing on corruption allegations postponed as it was alleged his opposite number had been the target of an attempted smear operation by one of ­Israel’s richest men while serving as his finance minister.

The Attorney-General’s office said it had rejected a request by Mr Netanyahu for the court hearing to be delayed until after fresh elections to be held on September 17, the Ynet news site reported yesterday.

Investigative TV show Uvda reported that tycoon Idan Ofer hired Israeli intelligence firm Black Cube to dig up dirt on Yair Lapid in 2014 as part of his efforts to influence tax policy on natural gas finds at the time.

Black Cube denied the allegations, saying that it never met with Mr Ofer or targeted politicians, judges or regulators.

Mr Ofer, a billionaire with holdings in shipping, drilling and mining, paid Black Cube to help him undermine an advisory panel appointed by Mr Lapid that was aiming to raise taxes on his company, according to Uvda. The idea was to smear Mr Lapid and the arbitrators in order to continue evading high taxes on his profits after Israel discovered a large offshore natural gas field.

Read the article in The Australian (AFP,AP).