Under pressure from probes, PM thanks those few ministers openly backing him

With several Likud ministers staying mum over serious developments in graft investigations against the prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu on Sunday thanked those who did rise to his defense, in comments seen as unusually temperate for the normally combative leader.

Netanyahu made no public mention of the legal trouble at Sunday’s cabinet meeting, making do instead with only a subtle off-camera jab at a lackluster show of support from his ministers.

With Netanyahu facing increasing pressure as police appear close to recommending indictment in two corruption investigations against him, several Likud ministers came to his defense Sunday morning, but most chose to stay out of the fray.

Ari Harow, a former key associate of the prime minister, signed a deal on Friday to turn state’s witness, a day after police explicitly said for the first time that the investigations involving Netanyahu revolve around “bribery, fraud and breach of trust.”

After he publicly ignored the developments, instead focusing on the Monday’s visit to Israel of the president of Togo and a new biometric identification system introduced, Netanyahu briefly mentioned the investigations during his closed-door comments to ministers.

“I want to thank our ministers,” Netanyahu said in his comments on the intense media coverage of the probes, according to coalition sources, “those who gave interviews.”

The comment was understood by some to be a dig at the majority of his ministers, including most within his own Likud party, who have avoided any public statements or interviews on the issue.

Arriving at the meeting, only one of the 22 ministers agreed to speak with reporters outside the cabinet room.

Culture Minister Miri Regev, one of the few who has given interviews in support of the prime minister, said she was “not worried and neither is the prime minster” about the recent developments.

On Friday, Hebrew media reported that police would recommend filing indictments against Netanyahu in two cases — Case 1000 and Case 2000 — as the investigations appear to be strengthened by “significant material” provided by Harow, Netanyahu’s former chief of staff.

A police recommendation does not carry legal weight. It is for state prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife Sara are suspected of receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.

Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister hobble a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, through Knesset legislation in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

Earlier Sunday Regev gave impassioned interviews to several Hebrew radio stations, dismissing the allegations as “a media lynching.”

“The media and parts of the opposition have been trying to bring down the prime minister for 20 years,” Regev told Army Radio. “It’s the same now with these half-truths about the latest corruption. They won’t succeed.”

Following the cabinet meeting, Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely echoed statements made Sunday by fellow Likud ministers Yisrael Katz and Tzachi Hanegbi by saying that the media was trying to force Netanyahu out of office without allowing him a fair trial.

“It’s legitimate to criticize the government. It’s not legitimate to force a pre-written judgment on the legal authorities,” she said in a statement.

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked has said that the law does not require a prime minister to step down unless convicted of a crime carrying moral turpitude. Ministers have to step down if indicted, but not prime ministers, she said — an opinion not universally accepted by legal experts.

Shaked, whose Jewish Home party sits in the coalition, told Channel 2 that she was opposed to bringing down the government, but there were ethical implications if Netanyahu was indicted.

“If we arrive at a situation in which an indictment is served, the coalition parties will sit down and consider what to do,” she said.

Netanyahu’s predecessor Ehud Olmert stepped down in 2009 ahead of being indicted on graft charges.

In a Friday evening video posted hours after the deal with Harrow was announced, Netanyahu said the investigations against him were “background noise” and that he was focused on working on behalf of Israeli citizens.