As opposition laments graft probe, PM says: Don’t celebrate

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned his political rivals Monday against rejoicing over a police investigation of him on suspicions of corruption, telling his weekly Likud faction meeting Monday that the claims will be proved to be “hot air.”

Hours before he was set to face police investigators, Netanyahu, speaking in muted tones, told Likud lawmakers that the press and his opponents should “hold off with the celebrations.”

“I told them and I repeat and tell you — there won’t be anything because there wasn’t anything,” he said to applause of his Likud lawmakers.

Addressing the opposition, the prime minister said, “You’re going to continue to blow up balloons with hot air and we’re going to continue to lead the State of Israel.”

But despite the resolute message and response, the gathering lacked the cheer and verve often present at Likud faction meetings.

While MKs applauded, they did so without smiling or cheering, following the lead of Netanyahu who skipped his usual hugs and handshakes as he entered the room. While the prime minister attempted a joke — asking if there was anything else being discussed after opening his comments with a rambling eulogy of former justice minister Yaakov Neeman who passed away Sunday — he did so with a sheepish glance around the room, seemingly unsure if it would be welcomed.

Police are scheduled to question Netanyahu under caution Monday evening about suspicions that he accepted valuable gifts from two businessmen, after a graft probe against him gave way to a full-blown investigation in recent days.

The interrogation session will take place at the Prime Minister’s Residence on Balfour Street, Jerusalem, at 7 p.m., police said.

Despite Netanyahu’s warning, opposition leader Isaac Herzog said earlier he was not deriving any enjoyment from Netanyahu’s imminent police interrogation.

“This is not a happy day; this is a difficult day for Israel,” Herzog said at the start of the weekly Zionist Union faction meeting. “We don’t have a drop of schadenfreude.”

In restrained comments, Yesh Atid chair Yair Lapid said Netanyahu should be presumed innocent until proven guilty.

​”I wish for him and his family, and the State of Israel, that we uncover that there was no fault in his behavior. If two prime ministers in a row fall from office because of corruption it will be very hard to rehabilitate the public’s trust in its leadership,” Lapid told his own faction meeting.

“I want to remind the members of the opposition and the media that the presumption of innocence applies to every Israeli, including the prime minister. We need to let the police do their work,” he said.

Investigators have reportedly been trying for two weeks to set a date for the questioning.

Lapid called on the prime minister to clear his schedule and help police ​in order “to get to the truth as quickly as possible.”

Defending the prime minister, Jewish Home chair and Education Minister Naftali Bennett said that the prime minister need not consider resigning over the investigation.

“There is great importance to stability in Israel’s government,” he said at a press conference in the West Bank city of Ma’ale Adumim. “It’s important that Israeli governments should last four years. It takes us time to be effective and this is a good national government.”

Sources close to Netanyahu were adamant Monday that the prime minister had done no wrong, and linked the investigation to efforts to oust him from power.

MK David Amsalem (Likud) told Army Radio that media “eagerness” over the investigations was threatening Israel’s democratic foundations.

“There is a motivation to remove the right from power,” charged Amsalem. “We need to take away any motivation other than that pertaining to the investigation itself. There is a basic democratic principle, that the people chose someone to lead the country. That is the most important principle and it takes precedence over all others.”