The noose is tightening around PM Netanyahu and his faithful cronies, many of whom are business tycoons, who need his help in further enriching themselves. This is of course at the expense of the Israeli taxpayer. Bibi is as tight as Scrooge and seems to be involved in cupboard love of wealthy business tycoons in order to maintain his decadent lifestyle of luxury. Time will tell when all the investigations against him are completed and the attorney-general comes to a decision once all the evidence is in his hands as to whether Netanyahu will be indicted or not. This will take over a year. If Netanyahu is indicted and found guilty, the possibility of him spending prison time cannot be ruled out.
- Case 1000 - the “Champagne - Cigars” File.
- Case 2000 - The “Noni Moses -Yediot Ahronot, Yisrael HaYom” File.
- Case 3000 - “Submarine File” - Netanyahu not implicated in this file to date.
- Case 4000 - “Bezeq communications” file in which close Netanyahu aides have been arrested and Netanyahu is due to give evidence under oath. The investigation will revolve around Shaul Elovitch's ties to the prime minister and his close associates and the suspicion he enjoyed benefits for the Israeli telecommunications giant Bezeq in return for favourable coverage of Netanyahu on the Walla!
- Case 1207 - alleged attempts on Netanyahu’s behalf to dangle a promotion over former District Court Judge Hila Gerstel in exchange for her cooperation, Supreme Court Judge President, Esther Hayut tells police former District Court Judge Hila Gerstel confided in her that during her candidacy for the post of state attorney, a PM associate, Nir Hefetz, approached her indirectly to offer the position on condition that she close a case against Sara Netanyahu; 'Gerstel expressed shock to the president about the incident 2.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, right, and Shlomo Filber, left, one of Netanyahu's closest allies.Moti Milrod / Maged Gozani
File 1000 and 2000 have been more or less completed and sent to the Attorney-General, Avichai Mandelblit 3 for his perusal in order to decide whether there is enough evidence to place PM Netanyahu on trial for fraud, bribery and breach of trust. This remains to be seen and can take over a year 4.
Case 4000 is under police investigation and this appears to be the most threatening case for Netanyahu’s career as a prime minister in which Netanyahu may be suspect of wrongdoing. Naturally, Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in this case as well. It will take time for the police to complete their investigation in this case before they refer it to the Attorney-General for his decision to indict Netanyahu. Police harness evidence against PM Netanyahu by nearly clinching central suspect—former Communications Ministry director-general Shlomo Filber—who is expected to incriminate Netanyahu as he prepares to ink state witness deal in a fresh corruption case involving benefits for more favourable media coverage.
According to a report from YNet:
“Bezeq majority owner Shaul Elovitch, former media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Nir Hefetz, and former Communications Ministry director-general Shlomo Filber are among those arrested Sunday in the Bezeq corruption affair, it was cleared for publication late Monday.19th Feb 2018.
Recordings provided by Walla! News CEO Ilan Yeshua to Securities Authority convinced AG Mandelblit to give go-ahead to police to also investigate Bezeq case; recordings reportedly show blatant instruction by Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch to sway news coverage in PM Netanyahu's favour.
Or and Iris Elovitch, the son and wife of Bezeq's owner, and CEO Stella Handler were also arrested.
Suspects are alleged to have either given or received bribes, in a quid pro quo relationship involving actions that benefited Bezeq and Walla! News—a news site owned by the telecommunications giant—in return for flattering coverage of Prime Minister Netanyahu and his family”.
PM Netanyahu views all these suspicions as a witch-hunt against him 5. He blames the police, the court system, the left-wing and the opposition.
However, Netanyahu has wall to wall support from his shenanigans in the Likud Party as well as in his government coalition. Even the majority of his supporters amongst the Israeli electorate believe that he should remain in office. According to Netanyahu’s supporters (and there is no lack of them), there is nobody that can replace him. Netanyahu can remain in office from a legal point of view as he is still innocent and has not been proved guilty of any crime. At this stage of the investigations, he is regarded as a suspect and theoretically, he can serve out his term of office until the next elections and even be re-elected.
One of Bibi Netanyahu’s pundits, Chairman of the Knesset's House Committee MK Miki Zohar 6 (Likud) compared on Haifa Radio Monday the murder of former Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin with the investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and their attendant media coverage, alleging that Netanyahu had also suffered a form of political assassination. This is such an odious comparison and illustrates the lengths that Netanyahu’s Likud MKs is prepared to go to make irresponsible statements against the police and the rule of law. It appears that “Kaiser” Netanyahu is above the law and can do what he wishes. Anybody in Israel, who do not accept this, is treacherous, according to Netanyahu’s cronies. Miki Zohar’s outrageous and disgraceful comparison to Rabin’s assassination places a slur on Israel’s law authorities. Miki Zohar is an attorney and he should show better judgment. However, like most of his Likud colleagues, he is incapable of that. Another example of a “cosa nostra”- like Member of the Knesset and Coalition Chief Whip is David (Dudu) Amsalem, whose remarks against state witnesses and even Yair Lapid, who was summoned by the police to give a witness report, are not far from gangster-like expressions.
While Netanyahu, as mentioned earlier in this article, need not resign and can continue in his post as prime minister. However, the question remains whether it is in the public interest for him continue in his position as prime minister under these suspicions of a felony. When former Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert was under suspicion of committing a crime and had not been formally charged. Netanyahu was in the opposition. He stated that Olmert should resign. Today Netanyahu is in a similar situation to Olmert was then (in 2008) and he hangs on. Obviously, Netanyahu’s advice to others does not apply to himself. Netanyahu’s supporters state that he (Netanyahu) can function as prime minister even while he is busy with his defence lawyers to clear his name of all suspicions. That is doubtful. Naturally, Netanyahu denies all allegations against and views these cases as a witch hunt against him. Even Ehud Olmert, the previous prime minister denied allegations against him. No suspect in a crime ever admits guilt or committing a crime. Netanyahu is no different.
While PM Netanyahu has to come to terms with the various cases that appear to be very incriminating towards him, the question that should be asked is whether Netanyahu should resign. If one answers this question from a moral point of view and in the interest of the public, the answer is a definite “yes”. Netanyahu cannot function efficiently as prime minister while these files are hanging over his head like the sword of Damocles. Israel has so many problems, internal and external, that it is essential that its leader will not be bogged down with criminal files and consultation with his lawyers to clear his name of all suspicions of a felony.
References:
- 17 Feb. 2018, https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5117784,00.html. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
- "Chief justice confirms attempted bribery in Case 1207 - Ynetnews." 20 Feb. 2018, https://www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5123604,00.html. Accessed 21 Feb. 2018.
- "Avichai Mandelblit - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Avichai_Mandelblit. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
- "#10 Avichai Mandelblit - The man who will decide Israel's fate ...." 20 Sep. 2017, http://www.jpost.com/International/The-man-who-will-decide-Israels-fate-Avichai-Mandelblit-504857. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
- Communications Ministry Director-General Filber signs state witness agreement www.ynetnews.com/articles/0,7340,L-5123973,00.html Accessed 21 Feb. 2018.
- "Miki Zohar - Wikipedia." https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Miki_Zohar. Accessed 20 Feb. 2018.
