Netanyahu hit by third graft claim

JERUSALEM: Israeli police recommended yesterday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stand trial on bribery charges for allegedly trading regulatory benefits for favourable media coverage.

It is the third corruption case in which police have recommended the prime minister be indicted over his dealings with powerful businessmen. The decision finds Mr Netanyahu at a politically weakened time, with his government’s majority in parliament shrunken to a margin of one seat, and talk of early elections a fixture of the political landscape.

Investigators recommended that Mr Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, be indicted on bribery charges, too. The prime minister denied the couple committed any wrongdoing. “I am sure that in this case, too, the relevant authorities, after examining things, will arrive at the same conclusion — there was nothing because there is nothing,” he said.

The police recommendations are nonbinding. The decision whether to indict falls to Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit, who still hasn’t ruled on the two other corruption cases in which police have already said Mr Netanyahu should be indicted.

According to a police statement, Mr Netanyahu — at times also functioning as communications minister — tipped regulatory policy to benefit Israel’s largest telecommunications carrier, Bezeq Israeli Telecommunication Corp. In exchange, Bezeq’s news subsidiary, Walla, gave the prime minister sympathetic treatment, police allege.

Police recommended that Bezeq’s former chairman, Shaul Elovitch, stand trial for giving bribes. Elovitch’s attorney, Jacques Chen, said that his client denied wrongdoing.

Investigators also recommended that Mr Netanyahu be tried for allegedly taking nearly US$300,000 (10 million baht) worth of gifts from friends, including Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. They also said he should be indicted for influence-peddling after discussing a deal with powerful publisher Arnon Mozes to push through legislation that would hurt a rival daily in exchange for good coverage.