Under investigation, Netanyahu slams coverage of now-closed graft cases

In his first public statements since being questioned under caution by police as a criminal suspect Monday night, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu slammed media coverage of several other now-closed corruption cases, vowing that the latest allegations would also prove to be “nothing.”

“Bibitours — nothing! A claim of illicit campaign funding — nothing! A claim of skewing primary results — nothing! A claim of receiving gifts abroad and funding for flights — nothing!” the prime minister wrote on Facebook, listing past corruption cases against him that Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit said Monday had been closed.

“Years of daily persecution against me and my family have been confirmed yesterday as having been nothing,” Netanyahu added.

After Netanyahu was interrogated for three hours Monday night, Mandelblit confirmed for the first time that he had ordered a criminal investigation into allegations of wrongdoing by the prime minister, issuing a full statement detailing the lead-up to the investigation.

While Mandelblit omitted specifics of the investigation, saying only that Netanyahu was suspected of “receiving improper benefits from businessmen,” the AG detailed four cases of suspected wrongdoing that were not included in the investigation because of a lack of evidence. They included allegations of illicit campaign finance during the 2009 election, forging results of the Likud primaries in that year, and receiving double payments for flights to speaking engagements abroad.

“Will someone in the media apologize for the thousands of headlines, hours of broadcasting ‘investigative journalism at its best’ that have turned out to be total nonsense?” Netanyahu wrote. “Certainly not [Channel 10 reporter Raviv] Drucker.”

Drucker has been a longtime thorn in Netanyahu’s side, exposing several scandals about the Israeli leader. In return, Netanyahu has berated him, sued him and reportedly tried to get him fired.

In what has become known as the “Bibitours” case, Drucker detailed 10 years of the Netanyahu family’s overseas travel expenses that included flights, hotels and meals paid for by rich associates. The report showed copies of receipts and a list of potential donors in Netanyahu’s own handwriting.

Turning to the current investigation in his Facebook post, Netanyahu repeated his mantra: “There will be nothing — because there is nothing.”

Mandelblit said that he had first ordered a “probe” into Netanyahu in June 2016 after he was presented with information by the Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit which included “a long list of allegations that the prime minister had carried out apparent crimes breaching ethical norms.”

Mandelblit decided to move from a probe to a full-blown criminal investigation “after he was presented with the opinion of the state attorney and the head of the police investigations and intelligence unit that the probe had found sufficient evidence justifying investigating the prime minister under caution,” the statement read.

It is unclear if and how the current investigation is linked to a number of cases involving reported financial impropriety by Netanyahu and his family.

In June, he acknowledged receiving money from French tycoon Arnaud Mimran, who was sentenced to eight years in jail over a $315 million scam involving the trade of carbon emissions permits and the taxes on them.

In May, Israel’s state comptroller released a critical report about Netanyahu’s foreign trips, some with his wife and children, between 2003 and 2005 when he was finance minister.

And there have been allegations the couple spent public funds on garden furniture and electrical repairs at their private villa in the coastal resort town of Caesarea.

A former staffer has accused Sara Netanyahu of pocketing cash from deposit refunds for empty bottles returned from the official residence between 2009 and 2013, money that should have gone to the treasury.

In 2013, Netanyahu reimbursed the state $1,000 but the staffer has said the figure should have been six times higher.

AP contributed to this report.