JERUSALEM: Israel’s attorney general said on Friday there was no legal reason to prevent him from indicting Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges before an election on April 9 should he decide such a move was warranted.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said his team was still examining the case materials and intended to make a decision as soon as possible.
Netanyahu is facing possible charges in three graft cases. He denies any wrongdoing and has called the cases a witch-hunt.
He is still the favorite to win the election but opinion polls show one of his toughest challengers, former general Benny Gantz, making gains.
Mandelblit said he had informed Netanyahu’s lawyers “there is no impediment to making and publishing a decision, if there is any, to consider filing an indictment in the cases relating to the prime minister, or part of them, subject to a hearing, even before the election date.”
Netanyahu has said he would not bow out of the race if Mandelbit announces his intention to accept police recommendations to indict him.
Police say Netanyahu granted regulatory favors to leading telecommunications company Bezeq Telecom Israel in return for more positive coverage on a news website belonging to the firm’s owner.
In a second case, police contend that Netanyahu received expensive gifts from rich friends. A third investigation focuses on suspicions that Netanyahu negotiated a deal with one newspaper for better coverage in return for promises to back legislation that would have limited the circulation of a rival.
Israeli attorney general says he can rule on Netanyahu indictment before election
Israeli attorney general says he can rule on Netanyahu indictment before election
- Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said his team was still examining the case materials and intended to make a decision as soon as possible
- Netanyahu is facing possible charges in three graft cases which he denies
Palestinians from West Bank arrive at Israeli checkpoints for first Friday prayers of Ramadan
Palestinian worshippers coming from West Bank cities arrived at Israeli checkpoints on Friday hoping to cross to attend first Friday prayers of Ramadan at al-Aqsa Mosque in Jerusalem.
Some said they were not allowed to enter and were asked to go back.
Israeli authorities said they would only allow up to 10,000 Palestinian worshippers from the West Bank to attend prayers at al-Aqsa, as security forces stepped up deployments across the city.
Police said preparations for Ramadan had been completed, with large numbers of officers and border police to be deployed in the Old City, around holy sites and along routes used by worshippers.
Israel's COGAT, a military agency that controls access to the West Bank and Gaza, said that entry to Jerusalem from the West Bank would be capped at 10,000 worshippers. Men aged 55 and over and women aged 50 and over will be eligible to enter, along with children up to age 12 accompanied by a first-degree relative, COGAT said.
Al-Aqsa lies at the heart of Jerusalem's old city. It is Islam's third holiest site and known to Jews as Temple Mount.
