Official accuses PM of trying to ‘deceive public’ over graft probes

A senior law enforcement official accuses Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of trying to “deceive the public” and disrupt the criminal investigations against him with his demand to face the state witnesses who have testified against him, saying the prime minister was hoping to intimidate them into changing their testimony to police.

In a live statement on prime time television yesterday evening, Netanyahu demanded that police allow him to face his former aides and colleagues who have reportedly provided incriminating evidence against him in the three graft cases in which he is a suspect.

“Netanyahu wants to assert his power, influence and status to disrupt the investigation,” Army Radio quotes a “very senior official” in the state prosecution as saying. “In a confrontation with him, those state witnesses could give a different testimony to the one they gave police. They were forced to tell the truth as it is known to them, and they could easily surrender once again to Netanyahu’s influence when he appears in front of them.”

The official adds: “The Israeli public is being deceived, and not for the first time, by Netanyahu, who is making use of the masses’ naivete — meaning their lack of knowledge in those subjects,” the unnamed official is quoted as saying. “Anyway, no suspect has a right to a confrontation [with witnesses during the investigation stage] and it is inappropriate to hold an unnecessary and damaging confrontation.”

— Michael Bachner