Middle East

Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu charged with bribery, fraud

25/11/2019

Benjamin Netanyahu says indictment is an ‘attempted coup’ against him and the investigators ‘weren’t after the truth’.

22 Nov 2019

A defiant Benjamin Netanyahu rejected all allegations of fraud on Thursday, saying he would not step down as Israel‘s prime minister despite being indicted on a series of corruption charges.

Netanyahu denounced what he called the “false” and “politically motivated” allegations, hours after being charged by the attorney general with bribery, fraud and breach of trust. He denied all wrongdoing.

“What is going on here is an attempt to stage a coup against the prime minister,” Netanyahu said. “The object of the investigations was to oust the right wing from government.”

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced the indictment earlier on Thursday, calling it a “heavy-hearted decision” based only on solid legal evidence.

But Netanyahu said the investigators “weren’t after the truth, they were after me”.