More Likud support emerges for Netanyahu, but key allies mum

Several Likud ministers on Sunday afternoon expressed public support for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu amid developments in the ongoing corruption probes against him, hours after the premier made a subtle jab at his ministers for their lackluster support.

Likud ministers Gilad Erdan and Gila Gamliel, and former Likud minister and Netanyahu rival Gideon Sa’ar, all urged the public to withhold judgment until the courts issue rulings in the graft probes involving the prime minister.

They joined Likud ministers Yisrael Katz, Miri Regev, Ayoub Kara, and Tzachi Hanegbi, as well as Deputy Foreign Minister Tzipi Hotovely, in rallying round Netanyahu. Notably silent, however, were Netanyahu confidants and Likud ministerial bigwigs Yuval Steinitz, Zeev Elkin and Yariv Levin, and Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein.

“The prime minister is leading the State of Israel responsibly and professionally and we must support him in light of the political and media attacks against him,” Erdan, the public security minister, said. “The claims the prime minister is guilty until proven otherwise are ludicrous and have no place in a democratic state.”

Gamliel, who holds the social equality portfolio, urged the public to “lower the flames.”

“Let the authorities do their jobs and give the prime minister the presumption of innocence that he legally deserves, like every other citizen in Israel,” she said.

Sa’ar, seen as a future challenger to Netanyahu, also came to the prime minister’s defense.

“There are no grounds for the prime minister to resign, and this is wrong,” wrote Sa’ar in a Facebook post, adding that he hopes Netanyahu is ultimately cleared of any wrongdoing.

With Netanyahu facing increasing pressure, as police appeared close to recommending indictments in two corruption investigations against him, several Likud ministers came to his defense Sunday morning, but many 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.”

During the public part of Sunday’s weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem, Netanyahu ignored the developments, instead focusing on Monday’s visit to Israel of the president of Togo and a new biometric identification system. He only mentioned the investigations briefly afterward, 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 of those within his own Likud party, who had avoided 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 have given interviews in support of the prime minister, said she was “not worried and neither is the prime minster” about the recent developments.

Breaking the recent silence of the Likud party’s junior coalition partners, Jewish Home chairman Naftali Bennett later expressed ongoing support for the government, saying he hoped the probes would end “without indictment.”

“Israel needs stability and we need to support the national government, and we are committed to its continuation,” Bennett said in a statement.

“The prime minister is presumed innocent and I hope that the investigation will conclude without an indictment,” Bennett, the education minister, said, while urging that others refrain from “pressuring” law enforcement officials.

Agriculture Minister Uri Ariel and his fellow Jewish Home MK Betzalel Smotrich said in a statement that Netanyahu need not resign even if indicted, echoing comments in recent days by Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.

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.

After the cabinet meeting, Hotovely said 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.

Shaked, of Bennett’s Jewish Home party, has said 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 told Channel 2 on Saturday 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; he was later convicted, and served 16 months in jail before his release last month.

In a video posted Friday evening, 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.