Israel's Netanyahu charged in corruption cases
- Country:
- Israel
Israel's attorney general on Thursday formally charged Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a series of corruption cases, throwing the country's paralyzed political system into further disarray and threatening the long-time leader's grip on power. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different scandals. It is the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister has been charged with a crime. Mandelblit was set to issue a formal statement later Thursday.
Allegations against Netanyahu include suspicions he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars of champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, offered to trade favors with a newspaper publisher and used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site. The indictment does not require Netanyahu to resign but is expected to raise pressure on him to step down.
Netanyahu has called the allegations part of a witch hunt, lashing out against the media, police, prosecutors and the justice system. Netanyahu was scheduled to issue a statement later Thursday.
(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)
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- Benjamin Netanyahu
- Avichai Mandelblit
- AP
- Jerusalem
- Israel
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