Police to question Israeli prime minister over gifts — reports
Israeli police were expected to question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday over whether he illegally accepted gifts from wealthy supporters, media reports in that country said.
In a probe that has shaken the political scene, the longrunning inquiry has looked into whether Israeli and foreign businessmen have offered gifts worth tens of thousands of dol- lars as well as another unspecified issue, according to reports.
Attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit has reportedly decided to upgrade the inquiry to a criminal probe, although he has yet to confirm this.
Police and Netanyahu’s office declined to comment.
Public radio said Netanyahu has agreed to be questioned at his home. It was not clear at what time this would occur, and screens were mounted at the entrance to Netanyahu’s compound in central Jerusalem in an apparent bid to shield the investigators’ arrival from view.
In a Facebook post at the weekend, Netanyahu rejected all allegations against him and said his political opponents and some news outlets wanted to bring down his government.
Police have carried out the inquiry in secret over the course of about eight months and recently arrived at an important breakthrough, reports said. About 50 witnesses are said to have been questioned.
In July, Mandelblit said he had ordered a preliminary examination into an unspecified affair involving Netanyahu, with no details given.
US billionaire and World Jewish Congress president Ronald Lauder was among those questioned over gifts he allegedly had given Netanyahu and alleged spending on trips for him, Israeli media reported.
Lauder, whose family founded Estee Lauder cosmetics, has long been seen as an ally of Netanyahu, who in the late 1990s put him in charge of negotiating with then Syrian president Hafez al-Assad.
Netanyahu has acknowledged receiving money from French tycoon Arnaud Mimran, who was sentenced to eight years in prison over a scam amounting to €283m involving the trade of carbon emissions permits and the taxes on them.
Netanyahu’s office said he had received $40,000 from Mimran in 2001, when he was not in office, as part of a fund for public activities, including appearances abroad.
Netanyahu has also come under scrutiny over the purchase of submarines from a German firm, with media reports alleging a conflict of interest over the role played by family lawyer David Shimron.
Shimron also acts for the Israeli agent of Germany’s Thyssen-Krupp, which builds the Dolphin submarines.
Beyond those issues, Israel’s state comptroller released a critical report in May about Netanyahu’s foreign trips, some with his wife and children, between 2003 and 2005 when he was finance minister.
Netanyahu, 67, is in his fourth term as prime minister and heads what is seen as the most right-wing government in Israeli history. He has served as premier for nearly 11 years, fast approaching founding father David Ben-Gurion’s 13 years.
Polls have shown that if elections were held today, his Likud party would finish behind the centrist Yesh Atid, but that voters still prefer Netanyahu as prime minister.