Israel PM Netanyahu indicted for corruption

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 his 10-year grip on power. Mr. Netanyahu angrily accused prosecutors of staging “an attempted coup.”

Capping a three-year investigation, 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.

An ashen-faced Mr. Netanyahu appeared on national TV, claiming he was the victim of a grand conspiracy by police and prosecutors.

He defiantly claimed the indictment stemmed from “false accusations” and a systematically “tainted investigation,” saying the country was witnessing an “attempted coup” against him.

“Police and investigators are not above the law,” he said. “The time has come to investigate the investigators.”

As the investigation gained steam in recent months, Mr. Netanyahu has repeatedly lashed out at the media, police, and justice system, drawing accusations that he was undermining the country’s democratic institutions.

Mr. Mandelblit earlier rejected accusations that his decision was politically motivated and said he had acted solely out of professional considerations.

“A day in which the attorney general decides to serve an indictment against a seated prime minister for serious crimes of corrupt governance is a heavy and sad day, for the Israeli public and for me personally," he told reporters.

According to the indictment, Mr. Netanyahu 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 the 70-year-old Mr. Netanyahu to resign, but it significantly weakens him at a time when Israel’s political system appears to be limping toward a third election in under a year.

Mr. Netanyahu’s defiant response, along with calls from his rivals to resign, indicated a lengthy period of turmoil ahead.

The political party of Mr. Netanyahu’s chief rival, former military commander Benny Gantz, said the prime minister has “no public or moral mandate to make fateful decisions for the state of Israel.”

Mr. Mandelblit criticized the often-heated pressure campaigns by Mr. Netanyahu’s supporters and foes to sway his decision, which came after months of deliberations. Both sides had staged demonstrations outside or near his home.

“This is not a matter of right or left. This is not a matter of politics,” he said. “This is an obligation placed on us, the people of law enforcement and upon me personally as the one at its head."

The most serious charges were connected to so-called “Case 4000,” in which Mr. Netanyahu is accused of passing regulations that gave his friend, telecom magnate Shaul Elovitch, benefits worth over $250 million to his company Bezeq. In return, Bezeq’s news site, Walla, published favorable articles about Mr. Netanyahu and his family.

The relationship, it said, was “based on a mutual understanding that each of them had significant interests that the other side had the ability to advance.” It also accused Mr. Netanyahu of concealing the relationship by providing “partial and misleading information” about his connections with Mr. Elovitch.

Two close aides to Mr. Netanyahu turned state’s witness and testified against him in the case.

The indictment also said that Mr. Netanyahu’s gifts of champagne from billionaires Arnon Milchan and James Packer “turned into a sort of supply line.” It estimated the value of the gifts at nearly $200,000.

The indictment said Mr. Netanyahu assisted the Israeli Mr. Milchan, a Hollywood mogul, in extending his U.S. visa. It was not immediately clear what, if anything, Mr. Packer, who is Australian, received in return.

The decision comes at a tumultuous time for the country. After an inconclusive election in September, both Messrs. Netanyahu and Gantz, leader of the Blue and White party, have failed to form a majority coalition in parliament. It is the first time in the nation’s history that that has happened.

The country now enters an unprecedented 21-day period in which any member of parliament can try to rally a 61-member majority to become prime minister. If that fails, new elections would be triggered.

Mr. Netanyahu is desperate to remain in office to fight the charges. Under Israeli law, public officials are required to resign if charged with a crime. But that law does not apply to the prime minister, who can use his office as a bully pulpit against prosecutors and push parliament to grant him immunity from prosecution.

In the first sign of rebellion, Gideon Saar, Mr. Netanyahu’s top Likud rival, on Thursday called for a leadership primary should the country, as expected, go to new elections.

"I think I will be able to form a government, and I think I will be able to unite the country and the nation," Mr. Saar said at the Jerusalem Post Diplomatic Conference in Jerusalem. He did not address the looming criminal charges.

The only plausible way out of a third election – and the prolonged political paralysis that has gripped Israel for the past year – would be a unity government.

In September’s election, Blue and White edged Likud by one seat in the previous election. Together, the two parties could control a parliamentary majority and avoid elections.

Both Messrs. Netanyahu and Gantz expressed an openness to a unity government. But during weeks of talks, they could not agree on the terms of a power-sharing agreement, including who would serve first as prime minister.

A deal appeared all but impossible after Thursday’s indictment, with Blue and White’s top four officials all urging Mr. Netanyahu to resign. The party has said it is open to sitting with Likud under a different leader.

If elections are held, opinion polls are already predicting a very similar deadlock, signaling additional months of horse-trading and uncertainty.

That could now change. A poll carried out last month by the Israel Democracy Institute, a nonpartisan think tank, found that 65% of Israelis thought Mr. Netanyahu should resign as head of the Likud party if indicted, with 24% opposed. The poll had a margin of error of 4 percentage points.

The emergence of Mr. Saar as an heir could reshuffle the deck, but challenging Mr. Netanyahu in Likud is a risky maneuver in a party that fiercely values loyalty and has had only four leaders in its 70-plus-year history.

A former lawyer and journalist, Mr. Saar was first brought into politics 20 years ago by Mr. Netanyahu, who made him his Cabinet secretary in his first term in office. Mr. Saar then established himself as a staunch nationalist who opposed Israel's 2005 withdrawal from the Gaza Strip and resisted the prospect of a Palestinian state. He quickly rose in the Likud ranks, twice finishing first in internal elections for its parliamentary list and enjoying successful stints as education minister and interior minister after Mr. Netanyahu returned to power in 2009.

But as with others in Likud who saw their popularity rise, he too began to be perceived by Mr. Netanyahu as a threat. He quit politics in 2014 to spend more time with his family before making his comeback this year.

Despite his hard-line positions, Mr. Saar is liked and respected across the political spectrum and could prove a far more comfortable partner for unity with Mr. Gantz if elected head of Likud.

This story was reported by The Associated Press.