Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear in court on Sunday on charges related to bribery, fraud and breach of trust, a week after he was sworn in to head the Israeli government.
The Israeli prime minister, widely known as Bibi, stresses that the charges are a politically motivated "campaign of persecution" launched by the media and the left wing to remove him from office, according to his claims.
Supporters of Netanyahu in the right-wing Likud party accused the judicial system of bias, according to the Reuters reports.
Netanyahu alleged that receiving gifts from friends is not against the law, while his legal team asserts that criminal investigations into relations between politicians and news media threaten freedom of the press.
It is unlikely that any verdict will be issued against Netanyahu, and the trial may take years, and Bibi can also ask for an agreement with the prosecution to be concluded instead of completing the trial to the end.
If Bibi is found guilty of accusations of receiving a bribe, the penalty will be 10 years imprisonment and a fine, or either.
If he is convicted of the crime of fraud and breach of trust, the sentence will be imprisonment for about 3 years.
List of Charges Against Netanyahu
Israeli prosecutors formally charged Netanyahu, who is 70 years old, in three criminal cases last November, but he denies that any of them was committed.
Police recommended in February that Mandelblit filed criminal charges against Netanyahu in the long-running investigations dubbed Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000.
The most interesting charge is the case no. 4000, in which he is accused of providing "courtesy" through organizational channels in the range of ILS 1.8 billion, about $ 500 million, to the Israeli Bezeq telecommunications company.
The prosecution list stated that Netanyahu in return requested positive coverage for him and his wife Sarah on a news website controlled by Shaul Elovich, the company’s former president.
[caption id="attachment_57165" align="aligncenter" width="1000"]
Israeli PM Netanyahu and his wife Sarah[/caption]
In this case, he was charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, and Elovich and his wife, Irina, were charged with bribery and obstruction of justice.
As for case No. 1000, Netanyahu is accused of fraud and breach of trust, by illegally obtaining gifts worth nearly ILS 700,000 from Israeli film producer Arnon Milchan, who works in Hollywood and billionaire Australian businessman James Packer.
The prosecution said that the gifts included champagne bottles and cigars, adding that Netanyahu helped Milchan with his work.
In Case no. 2000, he is accused of negotiating a deal with Arnon Moses, owner of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth in order to improve news coverage about the Israeli prime minister.
According to the indictment, the prime minister, in turn, proposed legislation to slow the spread of a competing newspaper.
Moreover, Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach of trust, and Moses was charged with bribery.
He has assumed office since 2009. He is the country’s longest-serving leader. He has denied wrongdoing in the three corruption cases, saying he is the victim of a political witch hunt.
However, submitting resignation is not a must for Netanyahu at the time being according to the Israeli laws.
The Israeli leader is suspected of wrongfully accepting $264,000 worth of gifts, which prosecutors said included cigars and champagne, from tycoons and of dispensing favours in alleged bids for improved coverage by Israel’s biggest selling newspaper, Yedioth Ahronoth, and the Walla website.
A former prime minister, Ehud Olmert, stepped down as party leader when he was under investigation for corruption in 2008 but technically remained prime minister until elections the following year - polls which brought Benjamin Netanyahu to power.
According to Israeli law, a prime minister charged with a crime is not required to resign, according to the BBC report.
Follow the latest news on Google News
