National Post (National Edition)
ISRAEL PM TO FACE BRIBERY CHARGES
Corruption case shakes up April election
JERUSALEM• Israel’ s attorney general on Thursday recommended criminal charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, shaking up an already tumultuous election campaign and threatening to end the Israeli leader’s decades-long political career.
The potential charges stretch across an array of embarrassing scandals that have painted Netanyahu as a hedonistic, and sometimes petty, leader with a taste for expensive gifts and an obsession over his public image. They include allegations he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, and allegedly used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favourable coverage on a popular news website.
While a final decision on charges is still months away, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s recommendations threatened to hurt Netanyahu’s standing in the heat of a tight reelection battle. Netanyahu quickly faced calls to immediately step aside while he deals with the distraction of trying to clear his name.
Appearing on national TV late Thursday, Netanyahu dismissed the allegations as an “unprecedented witch hunt” by political opponents intent on seeing him lose the April 9 election.
He called the timing of the recommendations “outrageous” and accused prosecutors of caving in to pressure from “the left.”
Appearing emotional at times, he called the case a “blood libel,” said he would debunk all charges and vowed to remain prime minister for many years.
“This house of cards will collapse,” he said as he addressed voters. “Don’t let this witch hunt affect you.”
Mandelblit announced his recommendations after more than two years of investigations and deliberations by police, legal experts and financial regulators.
“The attorney-general has reached his decision after thoroughly examining the evidence collected during the investigations,” his statement said.
Netanyahu, 69. was not formally charged. Under Israeli law, he is entitled to defend himself at a hearing before charges are filed. That process is expected to take many months and be completed long after the election.
Tomer Naor of the Movement for Quality Government, a watchdog group, said the hearing process could take about a year. While charges are not guaranteed, he said most of the cases, particularly the bribery case, appeared to be solid.
The recommendations nonetheless plunged Israel into uncharted legal waters, marking the first time in its history that a sitting prime minister is so close to facing criminal charges.
While Israeli prime ministers are not required by law to resign if charged, the prospect of a leader standing trial while simultaneously running the country could increase calls, even from his allies, to step down.
Netanyahu has a solid base of hard-line, nationalist and religious voters who are likely to rally behind him. For now, Likud officials and his coalition partners are also supporting him.
But polls have indicated that the April vote, in which Netanyahu is seeking a fourth consecutive term, could be swayed by a small number of voters who abandon him in favour of a new centrist party headed by a popular former military chief, Benny Gantz.
Gantz, whose campaign has focused heavily on Netanyahu’s character, called on Netanyahu to resign immediately. He said Israel could not afford to have a “part-time prime minister.”
Even before Thursday’s announcement, Netanyahu’s campaign had shown signs of trouble. The alliance formed by Gantz and Yair Lapid, another centrist leader, enjoys a slight lead in opinion polls, making them the first credible threat to Netanyahu’s decade-long rule. Lapid also called on Netanyahu to step down.
The most serious allegations against Netanyahu involve his relationship with Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israel’s telecom giant Bezeq.
Mandelblit recommended a bribery charge in the case based on evidence collected that confidants of Netanyahu promoted regulatory changes worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq.
In exchange, they believe Netanyahu used his connections with Elovitch to receive positive press coverage.