Israeli police urge indictment of PM

Israeli police recommended Tuesday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu be indicted for bribery and breach of trust in connection with two long-running corruption cases.

A defiant Bibi responded to the recommendations — which now rest with Israel’s attorney general — by saying they “will end with nothing.” He vowed to remain in office. Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has said that a prime minister who has been charged with wrongdoing is not required to resign, but the embarrassing recommendations could spark demands that Netanyahu step down.

Police have been investigating the two cases — dubbed “Case 1000” and “Case 2000” — for the past 14 months.

In the first probe, known as the “gifts affair,” Netanyahu allegedly received more than $100,000 worth of gifts, including cigars and top-shelf champagne, from Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and other wealthy benefactors in return for advancing their interests.

Police said that after receiving the presents, Netanyahu pushed for the so-called Milchan Law, which slashes taxes for Israelis returning to their country after time abroad.

The prime minister acted “against public interests,” a police statement said.

In 2014, Netanyahu also asked then-Secretary of State John Kerry three times to intervene on behalf of Milchan for a longterm visa allowing him to live in the United States, The Times of Israel reported.

Milchan, 73, eventually received a 10-year visa after plying Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, with gifts over many years, according to the paper.

In their recommendation Tuesday, police called for Milchan — who has been a producer on such hits as “Fight Club,” “Pretty Woman” and “12 Years a Slave” — to face criminal charges, Haaretz reported.

A lawyer for Milchan told The Times of Israel that the producer and Netanyahu are friends, but there was no bribery. “Their connection has been characterized by friendliness. In this context, gifts were given to the Netanyahu family from time to time,” the lawyer said.

The other case involves a deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper publisher Arnon Mozes that would have provided the prime minister with positive coverage in exchange for support of a bill to weaken Israel Hayom, the largest-circulation Hebrew-language paper.

Police also recommended indicting Mozes.

Netanyahu has repeatedly denied wrongdoing.

“These recommendations mean nothing in a democratic society,” he said Tuesday.

He said that everything he did was for the sake of the country — “not for cigars from friends and not for better media coverage.”