Israeli Police arrived unannounced at Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s official residence on Sunday as part of an ongoing investigation into corruption allegations, The Independent reports.
Netanyahu is accused of receiving thousands of dollars in illicit gifts from Arnon Milchan, an Israeli billionaire, among other allegations.
Israeli law prohibits public representatives from receiving any gift that isn’t ‘of small value and reasonable in context,’ a somewhat ambiguous clause that will no doubt play a role in the Israeli Attorney General’s weighing of a potential indictment.
This month, an Indian billionaire visiting Israel had to give testimony to the police regarding allegations of corruption involving Netanyahu, as well. The police questioned him for two hours in relation to claims that the billionaire gave Netanyahu gifts valued at hundreds of thousands of shekels.
As reported by The Independent, a separate investigation is looking into secret talks with the publisher of a major Israeli newspaper in which the prime minister allegedly requested positive coverage in exchange for curbing the newspaper’s main competitor.
No formal charges have been brought against the Israeli leader, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and called the accusations against him a “witch hunt” orchestrated by a hostile media. But the investigations are continuing.
Just this week, however, Israeli media reported that Israeli police believe they may have sufficient evidence to bring formal charges against Netanyahu.
