Get Ready to Say ‘Buh-Bye’ to Bibi Netanyahu
Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblitt announced Thursday his decision to indict Prime Minister Netanyahu in one case of bribery and two cases of fraud and breach of trust. All indictments are pending a hearing. … The announcement comes after more than two years of investigations and less than two months before Israel’s highly-anticipated April 9 elections.
NBC:
The prime minister faces one count of bribery and two counts of fraud and breach of trust.
Police have previously recommended indicting Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three different cases.
Police recommended an indictment 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 on Bezeq’s popular subsidiary news site, Walla. Police have said their investigation concluded that Netanyahu and Elovitch engaged in a “bribe-based relationship.”
Police also recommended charges be brought against Elovitch, members of his family and members of his Bezeq management team.
Police have previously recommended indicting Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases. One involves accepting gifts from billionaire friends, and the second revolves around alleged offers of advantageous legislation for a major newspaper in return for favorable coverage.
Netanyahu, 69, who is serving his third consecutive term as prime minister and his fourth overall, has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the various allegations against him a witch hunt aimed at removing him from office.
Let’s not forget that Israel’s elections are mere weeks away. Timing is indeed everything.
The development is also likely to sandbag efforts by real rstate mogul Donald Trump’s son-in-law Jared Kushner to strike a dodgy deal and bail out his poorly-judged property deals… er, ahem, to strike a comprehensive Middle East peace deal.
DEVELOPING…
