Likud organizes rally supporting Netanyahu amid graft probes

The Likud party is organizing a rally in support of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, amid developments in the ongoing corruption probes against its party leader and premier.

A poster for the event, scheduled for Wednesday evening at a Tel Aviv convention center, pledged that all Likud ministers and party MKs would be present. It invited the Israeli public to attend.

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.”

With Netanyahu facing increasing pressure, as police appeared close to recommending indictments in two corruption investigations against him, several Likud ministers swiftly came to his defense Sunday morning, but many chose to stay out of the fray for hours.

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, the prime minister’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, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

A Channel 10 poll published Sunday indicated two-thirds (66 percent) of Israelis believe Netanyahu should resign if indicted for corruption, and just over half (51%) said they don’t believe his protestations of innocence. According to the survey, the governing Likud would come out ahead of the other political parties in a general election — with or without Netanyahu at the helm.