For the first time in its history, Israel has indicted or charged a sitting prime minister with a crime.
Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit with breach of trust, fraud, and accepting bribes.
The Allegations:
- suspicions that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in champagne and cigars from billionaire friends,
-offered to trade favors with a newspaper published
- used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site. (Fox)
Netanyahu is fighting back. Hours before the indictment was issued, Netanyahu posted on Twitter, stating that “no court in a modern-enlightened state that has convicted a public servant for a bribe for receiving positive coverage.”
"There is no court in a modern-enlightened state that has convicted a public servant for a bribe for receiving positive coverage,” stated Netanyahu “If the law authorities first adopt this theory, they will remove Israel from the advanced countries that advocate freedom of expression and the press.”
Netanyahu’s wife Sara recently agreed to a plea deal after being charged with misusing government funds to the tune of $100,000
