Israel’s Netanyahu questioned amid corruption inquiry
JERUSALEM — Police investigators arrived at the official residence of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening to question him, indicating that Israel’s attorney general has upgraded a long-running graft inquiry into a criminal investigation.
The Israeli news media have been awash in recent days with reports that a criminal investigation was coming, saying that Netanyahu is suspected, among other things, of having received illicit gifts and favors. On Monday evening, the Israeli news media showed images of police cars pulling up at the residence.
Israeli police and the Justice Ministry have refused to confirm or deny the reports, saying only that a formal announcement was forthcoming. Aides to the prime minister also declined to comment.
Local news outlets say the investigators are focused on two separate cases, one more serious than the other, but they have offered little detail on the more serious one.
T h e l e s s wei g h t y o n e , according to reports in the newspaper Haaretz and other outlets, concerns favors for Netanyahu, and possibly for members of his family, given by Israeli and foreign business executives.
Netanyahu’s office, suggesting that he is the victim of a witch hunt, issued a statement over the weekend berating the news organizations for what it described as premature and politically motivated reports. “Try to replace the prime minister at the ballot boxes, as is accepted in democracies,” it added.
In televised remarks Monday afternoon, Netanyahu told legislators from his conservative Likud Party in Parliament, “We hear the celebratory spirit and winds blowing through the television studios and in the corridors of the opposition.”
“Hold off the celebrations; don’t rush,” he added. “I’ve told you before and will tell you again: This will come to nothing, because there is nothing.”
Opposition leaders were fairly subdued in their initial response. Isaac Herzog, leader of the Zionist Union and of the opposition in Parliament, said it was “a tough day for Israel when a prime minister is under investigation.”
Yair Lapid, the leader of the centrist Yesh Atid Party, said, “The presumption of innocence applies to every Israeli, including the prime minister.” He called for a swift investigation for the sake of the country, saying, “A person who is being investigated is a person under pressure.”