israeli politics - Page 3

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit reportedly does not agree with police that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be tried for bribery in one of the three corruption cases against him, instead leaning toward a breach of trust charge.

Three-and-a-half years after its first sitting following the 2015 elections, the 20th Knesset came to end on Wednesday as lawmakers voted to dissolve parliament and set new elections for April 9.

TEL AVIV – Former IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz turned down an offer from Zionist Union chief Avi Gabbay to take over as head of the opposition, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Israeli coalition leaders agreed Monday to hold early elections in April, seven months before they are due, a statement issued on their behalf said.

In his first public appearance since the Gaza ceasefire, Naftali Bennett reiterated his ultimatum to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to appoint him as defense minister.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly told ministers in his coalition that he will not be able to appoint Education Minister Naftali Bennett of the Jewish Home party to the defense minister post because of opposition to the move from other coalition partners, a development which likely puts Israel on course for early elections.

TEL AVIV – The coalition hung in the balance Wednesday in the wake of Defense Minister Avigdor Liberman’s announcement that he was resigning over Israel’s “capitulation to terror” in agreeing to a ceasefire agreement with Gaza and his subsequent call for new elections.

Jerusalem mayoral candidate Moshe Lion declared victory early Wednesday in the runoff election, but his rival, Ofer Berkovitch, vowed his legal team would be looking into alleged “irregularities” at the polling stations.

Police have finished a series of corruption investigations into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Israeli television reported Tuesday, with a decision on whether to indict the premier expected in the next six months.

TEL AVIV – Israeli far-left activist Ezra Nawi was indicted on Sunday on charges of informing the Palestinian Authority security service about Palestinians involved in selling West Bank land to Israeli Jews and endangering their lives, marking the first time a Jew will be tried for abetting the PA. 

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, a member of the high-level security cabinet, on Tuesday said Palestinians who send incendiary kites and balloons over the border into southern Israel should receive the same treatment as terrorists who fire rockets.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced Tuesday that he will lift the ban on parliamentarians visiting the Temple Mount, three years after the government forbade them from entering the flashpoint site due to security concerns.

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed Israeli media’s “Bolshevik propaganda” aimed at demonizing the right and bringing him down with lies about his family.

WASHINGTON — Visiting the US capital on Monday, Yesh Atid party chairman Yair Lapid met with high-level American lawmakers, urging the United States to recognize Israeli sovereignty over in Golan Heights.

Sara Netanyahu’s lawyer Yossi Cohen has described the indictment filed against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife on Thursday as “ridiculous and bizarre.”

TEL AVIV – Arab Knesset member Haneen Zoabi (Joint List) said that Israel is “looking for an excuse to kill the Palestinians” and called on Palestinians to “march on Jerusalem” in support of the violent Gaza protests. She made her comments at a press briefing at the United Nations headquarters in New York. 

A TV poll Tuesday indicated that the Likud party is gaining public support, despite Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s flip-flop on an asylum seeker resettlement deal with the UN’s refugee agency.

Israeli Arab lawmakers on Saturday voiced support for the Palestinian protesters on the Gaza border and joined left-wing calls for an investigation into the Israeli military response to the clashes, as the leaders of other center-left opposition parties squarely backed the Israel Defense Forces.

Police are seeking another round of questioning of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Monday in the Bezeq graft probe, for the first time since a former adviser turned state’s witness in the high profile corruption case, Hadashot TV news reported Friday.

The Knesset passed the state’s budget for 2019 in the early hours of Thursday, closing out the parliament’s winter term just over a day after the coalition managed to solve a crisis that nearly saw the government fall and new elections called.

Israel Police have asked the attorney general for permission to question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, his wife Sara, and possibly also their son Yair before the Passover holiday, which begins on March 30, in connection with the Bezeq corruption probe.

TEL AVIV – Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid on Sunday morning vowed his party wouldn’t join a coalition with a prime minister who has been indicted on criminal charges. Lapid’s remarks come in the wake of criticism aimed at one

TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday accused authorities of using intimidation tactics to force suspects into testifying against him in a series of graft investigations.

After completing a five-hour questioning session by police Friday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said he felt “more sure than ever before” that “nothing” will come of the latest corruption investigation.

Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife for several hours on Friday over corruption allegations that threaten the rightwing premier’s long tenure.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara will reportedly both be interrogated in the Bezeq corruption case on Friday, a day before the prime minister embarks on a week-long diplomatic trip to the United States.

Jerusalem – Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is to be questioned as a suspect in a further case of alleged corruption and as a witness in another, Israeli media reported Sunday.

Police are reportedly making efforts to again interrogate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the Bezeq corruption probe, known as Case 4000, and to take his testimony in another case involving alleged graft in multi-billion-shekel naval deals.

Police on Sunday said senior officials in the Bezeq phone company were arrested over the weekend in a graft probe involving close associates of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, after a “dramatic” development was reported over the weekend in the case.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has a double-digit lead over his top potential challengers in a new Israeli general election, according to a poll released Monday.

If Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was handed the public opinion polls that ran in the weekend newspapers when he arrived home from the United Nations General Assembly, he probably had a relatively relaxing holiday.

The Times of Israel reports: Israel’s national police chief has confirmed that investigators recently questioned Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan as part of a corruption investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

Israel’s attorney general has taken a step toward indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife for alleged misuse of public funds.

Sara Netanyahu is expected to be indicted, pending a hearing, on charges of fraudulently receiving items worth 400,000 shekels ($111,851), Haaretz has learned.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had to step in on Wednesday to prevent tensions with Jordan spiralling into a brawl between two lawmakers who agreed to meet on the border.

Former environmental protection minister Avi Gabbay, who joined Labor only six months ago, swept the party off its feet and emerged victorious in Monday’s close runoff race against veteran MK and former Labor chairman Amir Peretz. Gabbay won 16,080 votes, which was 52% of the vote, while Peretz won 14,734 votes, or 47%.