PM faces down MKs over criminal probes, rebuffs resignation calls
Netanyahu tells lawmakers that investigations into his alleged corruption are accompanied by a ‘celebration of hypocrisy and self-righteousness’
Raoul Wootliff is a former Times of Israel political correspondent and Daily Briefing podcast producer.
Put on the spot by opposition MKs on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lambasted the two criminal investigations against him, contending that he has done nothing wrong and would not step down should the allegations lead to further legal action.
Slamming the lawmakers in a stormy Knesset Q&A session punctuated by shouts and heckling, Netanyahu said the investigations had been accompanied by a “celebration of hypocrisy and self-righteousness.”
The prime minister is being investigated in two separate cases. The first, known as “Case 1000,” is looking into claims that he and his family received luxury gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels from businessmen, among them Israeli movie producer Arnon Milchan.
A second probe, known as “Case 2000,” pertains to recordings of conversations between Netanyahu and Israeli newspaper publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes, in which the pair allegedly negotiated an illicit quid pro quo deal that would have seen the prime minister pass legislation to hamper a rival daily in return for more favorable coverage from Mozes’s Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Netanyahu noted that he was “not the first” political leader to have meetings with media publishers, and not the first “to have wealthy friends.”
In addition, police are looking into the so-called submarine scandal, in which Netanyahu’s personal lawyer David Shimron allegedly swayed multi-billion shekel deals in favor of the German shipbuilder he represented in Israel. Channel 2 television reported Tuesday that former defense minister Moshe Ya’alon was questioned by police as part of their initial investigation.
Netanyahu, who has been questioned by police on two occasions, has denied any wrongdoing, repeatedly saying that nothing will come of either criminal investigation, but he had, until Wednesday, not referred to any of the specific suspicions.
Netanyahu was speaking during the Question Time session, introduced last year, during which opposition MKs can choose 10 ministers, including the prime minister, to face a Q&A session — each one once during the legislative year.
But during the hour-and-a-half long grilling, he repeatedly refused to answer questions on the investigation, with Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein saying the prime minister did not have to answer questions that do not relate to government activities.
Netanyahu declined a number of questions on whether he will resign if indicted in one of the two criminal investigations currently opened against him, and on whether gifts he received from businessman Milchan or his relationship with lawyer Shimron constitute a conflict of interest.
Instead, once the formal questioning was finished, he launched into a diatribe against the allegations, the MKs who called him to resign, and the media.
Saying that he was prevented by police protocol from speaking directly about the investigations, Netanyahu detailed the days surrounding the controversial 2014 Israel Hayom bill that would have outlawed large-scale distribution of a free newspaper, effectively curbing Israel Hayom’s distribution by forcing it to charge customers for copies.
“I am the one who opposed [that bill]. I broke up the government to prevent it,” he said, suggesting that lawmakers pushing the bill were the ones scheming with Mozes. “And they are blaming me? What a joke.”
“If you are going look into anyone, you need to look into the 43 MKs that voted for [the bill’s first reading],” he said. “But I don’t think you should investigate anyone for this because it is part of the complicated relations between politics and the media.”
The prime minister said “the exact same hypocrisy” was evident over Case 1000.
“The law says you can get gifts from friends… so [my critics] skew the law: [They want] one law for Netanyahu, and another for everybody else.” He stressed that his family and the Milchans had been “friends for 20 years.”
He was facing “an unprecedented witch-hunt,” he said, aimed “simply to replace me through nondemocratic means,” he said.
“Well, I will tell you this,” he concluded emphatically. “There was no crime and we don’t replace a prime minster through nondemocratic means… I will continue to lead the state of Israel for many years, on behalf of the citizens of Israel, the state of Israel and the Jewish people, so you better get used to it.”
The Times of Israel Community.