Netanyahu's Attorney-General reportedly recommended corruption charges



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An attorney general to oversee and investigate allegations of corruption against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly recommended that the prime minister be charged with corruption in at least one of his three cases.

The head of the department of taxation and finance of the public prosecutor, Liat Ben Ari, believes that there is enough evidence to charge both the perpetrators of Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth, Arnon Mozes, for corruption in the country. Case 2000, reported Channel 10 Tuesday at night.

The case concerns an alleged quid pro quo illicit deal between Netanyahu and Mozes that would have seen the prime minister hobble a rival daily newspaper, the freebie backed by Sheldon Adelson, Israel Hayom, in exchange for more coverage. favor of Yedioth.

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Under the so-called agreement between Mozes and Netanyahu, which has not been implemented, the Prime Minister announced that he would push forward the measures to curb Israel Hayom's circulation if Mozes was giving to instruct his journalists and editors to reduce their often negative attitude towards him.

Arnon 'Noni' Mozes, publisher and owner of the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, arrives for interrogation at the Lahav 433 investigation unit in Lod on January 15, 2017. (Koko / Flash90)

On Sunday, Channel 10 reported that Ben Ari had also recommended that Netanyahu be tried for corruption in the 1000 case, in which he would be suspected of receiving compensation of about one million NIS ($ 282,000). ) from benefactor billionaires, including Israeli producer Arnon Milchan from Hollywood, in exchange for badistance on various issues. Ben Ari baderted that there was enough evidence to file an indictment, the report said on television, without specifying however what charges she had recommended to Netanyahu.

In February, the police had recommended that Netanyahu be charged in both cases.

In these recommendations, the police said that from 2009, "Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes held personal conversations and meetings during which they discussed helping each other as a counterpart to advance their interests, "said the police.

They claimed that Netanyahu had offered support for possible measures, including the closure of Israel Hayom, the reduction in the number of newspaper editions and the removal of the weekend edition of the free daily newspaper. In addition, the investigation revealed "that the parties had actually taken concrete steps to advance the interests of both parties, as a result of the agreements reached between them, or at least presented themselves as if they had acted the type".

In addition, "the Prime Minister acted as the agent of the publisher Yedioth Ahronoth to other businessmen in connection with the purchase of Yedioth Ahronoth, while that he was Minister of Communications, "said the police.

Ben Ari's recommendations will now be reviewed by Attorney General Shai Nitzan, who will then make a final recommendation to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, before the latter decides whether to charge the Prime Minister. Minister.

Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit (left) and Attorney General Shai Nitzan attend a conference of the Ministry of Justice in Tel Aviv on December 21, 2016. (Tomer Neuberg / Flash90)

However, Mandelblit has already announced that a final decision on the indictments in both cases would only be made in conjunction with the findings of another ongoing investigation, the 4000 case.

In this case, Netanyahu is suspected of having made regulatory decisions as Minister of Communications and Prime Minister, which benefited Shaul Elovich, the majority shareholder of Bezeq, the country's largest telecommunications company, in exchange for a positive coverage of Elovitch's news site, Walla.

The investigation was reopened, a report from Kan's public broadcaster announced last week due to new information. This development should delay any decision of prosecutors regarding the filing of indictments against the Prime Minister.

Netanyahu has been questioned 12 times about various suspicions of corruption, most recently in August in the 4000 case investigation.

Once the police have completed their work in this investigation, they will submit their findings and recommendations to the prosecutors, who will then submit them to the Attorney General.

Netanyahu has long denied any wrongdoing in all three cases.

Times of Israel contributed to this report.

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