Netanyahu lambastes AG’s reported plan to charge him with bribery

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu responds to reports that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit plans to indict him for bribery in Case 4000.

In the case, the premier is suspected of advancing regulatory decisions that benefited Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in Bezeq, the country’s largest telecommunications firm, in exchange for positive coverage from Elovitch’s Walla news site.

“The charges of bribery are ridiculous. Prime Minister Netanyahu received nothing from Elovitch and gave him nothing. Walla’s coverage was negative and intensified before the elections,” Netanyahu says in a statement.

“All decisions regarding Bezeq were approved by all responsible regulators and the prime minister acted flawlessly, as the Ministry of Justice stated in an official document.”

“A bribery charge over two and a half articles on the internet is an absurd step that has no legal precedent. This house of cards will soon collapse.”