Another money scandal for Israeli PM
Three articles, 1) Haaretz, 2) Shmuel Rosner, Jewish Journal, on the persistence of financial sandaals about Israeli politicians and 3) VICE news.
The Netanyahus at a Maimouna [Sephardic celebration after Passover] event in Or Akiva in 2013. Photo by Avishag Sha-ar-Yashuv
Will Netanyahu Be Forced to Resign? His Investigation Explained
What is Netanyahu suspected of? Is Israel heading toward elections? Who could possibly replace him as prime minister? As the investigation unfolds, here is a look at what may follow.
By Allison Kaplan Sommer, Haaretz premium
January 03, 2017
In what feels like a terrible case of deja vu, Israelis began their new year watching a police convoy enter the home of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu Monday night.
They were there to question the nation’s leader as a possible criminal suspect after nine months of exploration that has unfolded painfully slowly then suddenly accelerated into a full-fledged investigation.
It all takes place as former Prime Minister Ehud Olmert sits in prison, serving a 19-month sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice, related to wrongdoing in an earlier position he held as mayor of Jerusalem.
As the Netanyahu investigation unfolded over the summer and fall of 2016, police cultivated a cloud of mystery over the affair presumably to prevent the prime minister from taking steps that could stymie their probe.
Here’s a look at where the investigation stands and what may ensue:
What crime is Netanyahu suspected of committing?
Police are investigating Netanyahu over suspicions related to two separate issues. In the first, said to be the smaller case, Netanyahu is suspected of receiving favors and gifts from a number of wealthy businesspeople, one of whom appears to be cosmetics tycoon and philanthropist Ronald Lauder, who has also been questioned by police.
It’s not entirely clear what is meant by “gifts” – we’re not talking about envelopes stuffed with cash, yet not about small trinkets or tokens, either. Police suspect that the value of what Netanyahu’s friends have bestowed upon him amounts to tens of thousands of dollars. Presumably Netanyahu will not be able deny receiving the gifts, but will characterize them as heartfelt offerings from close friends who happen to be multi-millionaires and billionaires.
The second investigation is the one that is being teased as a possible larger-scale bombshell, but very few details have been made public as yet.
Will Netanyahu resign because of the investigation?
Merely being investigated by police, even if over an extensive period, would not force a prime minister to leave office. The road to an indictment can be long. In the case of Olmert, an indictment took many months, and it took years more before any verdict came.
The present Knesset may run the course of its term before a possible indictment is handed down, and Netanyahu could serve out his term despite being under investigation. How effectively he could run the country while under police investigation is another matter. His predecessor, Olmert stepped down during his investigation in a move that surprised many.
What if there is an indictment?
If an allegation against Netanyahu leads to an indictment, on the basis of recent precedents of cabinet ministers charged with crimes or wrongdoing, he may be required to resign.
If Netanyahu resigns, will the country then move quickly to elections?
Technically, it doesn’t have to, if Likud and the cabinet could successfully rally around a replacement to Netanyahu. But that is rather difficult to imagine.
Could elections be called even before an indictment is handed down?
Yes. And that’s something that Netanyahu might want to happen. If the Knesset is dissolved and early elections are called, it could prolong or even delay the investigation. In such a scenario, Netanyahu would be able to campaign as a victim of what he sees as political rivals – in the opposition, the legal elites, and of course, the media. He could appeal to the voters to save him from the baseless witch hunt.
Who has the best chances of becoming Israel’s new prime minister?
Given the credibility of polls after Brexit and the election of Donald Trump, turning to them as a real forecast could be viewed as a foolish move. But scepticism withstanding, the answer could very well be… Yesh Atid leader Yair Lapid.
According to a December 31 public opinion poll released by Channel 10, if Knesset elections were held now, the opposition Yesh Atid party, headed by Yair Lapid, would become the largest in parliament, with 27 of the Knesset’s 120 seats.
Likud, which has 30 seats today, would shrink to 23 – and could possibly shrink even further if it ran without Netanyahu, or with a politically damaged Netanyahu at the top of the ticket. Among other parties led by an aspiring replacement for Netanyahu, Habayit Hayehudi, headed by Education Minister Naftali Bennett, would become the third largest party with 12 seats; Avigdor Lieberman, with Yisrael Beitenu polling at 10 seats; and Moshe Kahlon, whose Kulanu party drops from 10 to seven in the polls.
The party with the biggest cause for worry if new elections are held soon is the Zionist Union, whose number plummeted shockingly in this poll – from 24 seats to eight seats. It would require a miracle, it seems, for their current party leader, Isaac Herzog, to have a shot at leading a post-Netanyahu government.
Netanyahu gets some do’s and don’ts from former PM Ehud Olmert who is serving a 19-months sentence for fraud and tax evasion in Maasiyahu Prison
Netanyahu under investigation: Israel’s corruption conundrum
By Shmuel Rosner, Jewish Journal
January 03, 2017
Israel’s Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu had visitors last night: police investigators. What they wanted from him is unknown. All we know is that the PM is under investigation, and that the suspicion concerns gifts or sums of money that Netanyahu received from business people. All other information is no more than a smoke screen.
There are police investigators who possibly want to spread false rumours because they do not want the witnesses and Netanyahu to know exactly what the police is looking for. There are reporters who are pressured to provide a daily headline, and need to compensate for the lack of information with a lot of speculation. There is politics involved. Netanyahu is a powerful politician with many rivals. These rivals want him gone.
No doubt, some of them put pressure on the police and the Attorney General to be more thorough because of their belief that the PM is corrupt. But there is also the hope – for others – that the police might do what the voters didn’t: That is, make Netanyahu go away.
Netanyahu is under investigation like all Prime Ministers before him since – well – a very long time ago. Ehud Olmert was investigated, tried, convicted. Ariel Sharon was investigated – but died before the police could complete its work. Ehud Barak was investigated, and Netanyahu, in his first term as Prime Minister, before him. So clearly, Israel has a problem: but what is the problem? Here are six options:
A. Israel is corrupt: Per this theory, or line of explanation, what we see is what we have. If all Prime Ministers (and many ministers) are under investigation, the standard of behaviour among Israel’s politicians is probably too low. The politicians are dismissive of the law. And since Israel’s politicians seem to be under investigation much more than politicians of other countries, there is no alternative other than to conclude that Israel is more corrupt than other countries.
B. Israel’s PM’s are unwise: Israel is not corrupt more than other countries, but its Prime Ministers are less competent. They want to be corrupt like everybody else, but can’t do it without getting caught (This might explain many of their other failings as leaders of the country).
C. Israel’s legal system is thorough: That so many politicians are under investigation is proof that Israel is less corrupt than other countries, and less tolerant of leaders whose standards are low. Israel does not accept corruption as a necessary evil, and expects nothing less than virtuous conduct from its leaders. Its legal system is solid. Its police force fearless. Its media painstakingly professional. Israel is a place in which corruption us not tolerated.
D. Israel is lawyered up: We have too many people whose job is to search for cases to pursue, true or imaginary. We have too many people whose professional ambition is to investigate a Prime Minister, fight against the most powerful institutions in courts. We have too many police officers looking for fame, too many prosecutors looking for high profile cases, too many courts ready to play along with the never ending legal processes. Israel’s legal system is a monster that needs constant feeding – and occasionally it devours a Prime Minister. Instead of having proper standards, we have legalisms.
E. Israel is undemocratic: Yes, we have elections. Yes, the winning coalition is getting a mandate to rule. But the losing coalition found a way to limit and harass the ruling coalition. It found a way to alter election results and mock the will of the people. The legal system is the tool – but politics is the game. The media and the lawyers are utilized by Netanyahu’s political rivals who want to put an end to his very long term as Prime Minister. And since they cannot beat him at the polls, they try to beat him using legal means.
F. Israel’s system is rotten: To be a Prime Minister in Israel and run the country one has no choice but to be somewhat corrupt. To get elected a politician needs money, to raise money a politician needs friends, to have friends with money a politician must accept and give favours. The system is devised in such way that no leader can be a leader unless he or she is willing to stray from proper behaviour.
Which of these six explanations is the most valid? As usual, things are rarely clear cut.
Our politicians are a mirror of our society – if Israel is becoming more economically successful, and if Israelis are becoming more braggart with their money – their Prime Ministers naturally do not feel compelled to appear humble and frugal as they have in the distant past. As the ethical and moral codes of Israel’s society deteriorate, lawyers step in to feel the void. Where there are no standards there is still the law. But the law is often a crude instrument. It does not appreciate the fact that a Prime Minister has a country to run. That there is a public interest in letting him run the country that is, in many cases, greater than the public interest in getting him pay for petty misconduct.
So what is the bottom line? It is obviously undesirable and unreasonable that every Prime Minister will be under investigation. But until Israel figures out why every prime minister undergoes such investigations, we are bound to see this process again and again.
By Tim Hume, VICE news
January 02/03 2017
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was questioned by police at his official residence Monday about gifts he received from an American billionaire and other foreign businessmen, Israeli media reported.
The questions focused on allegations that Netanyahu and his family unlawfully took gifts and other favours from business figures in Israel and abroad, in breach of his position as a public official.
Netanyahu, who has strenuously denied the allegations, reasserted his innocence Monday, advising his critics in the media to hold off their celebrations, the Jerusalem Post reported.
“There will be nothing, because there is nothing,” he said Monday at a meeting of his Likud Party, using his standard denial of any allegation against him. Some of Netanyahu’s supporters in Likud have claimed the investigation against him is politically motivated.
Police arrived for the interview at the prime minister’s official residence on Monday night, where a black veil had been put up to block the view of reporters, according to reports.
Israeli media outlets are reporting that the alleged gifts involved were worth hundreds of thousands of shekels. (100,000 Israeli shekels are worth about $26,000.)
Ronald Lauder.
He was placed at no. 204 in Forbes list of the 400 richest people in 2016 and no. 162 in their list of US billionaires, 2016.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, one of the key witnesses is American billionaire businessman Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and a longtime friend of Netanyahu, who confirmed to police that he had given the Israeli leader a suit and paid for an overseas trip for his eldest son. But the newspaper report said police suspect that gifts of a higher value were given.
Helena Beilin, an attorney for Lauder, said that during a trip to Israel for the funeral of former Israeli leader Shimon Peres in September, her client was asked to meet with Israeli police to respond to questions relating to an investigation, to which he was not a party. She said Lauder briefly spoke to police and was told there would be no need for further interviews.
Israeli media outlets are also reporting that police hope that the questioning of Netanyahu will shed light on a second, more serious case opened against the Israeli leader and his family, although the details of that case remain unclear. Israel’s Ynetnews site reports that the initial investigation will focus on any gifts received by Netanyahu and his family, but that the focus could change if investigators find that the prime minister reciprocated the gifts in any way.
Currently serving his fourth term as prime minister, the 67-year-old Netanyahu has survived a number of scandals during his lengthy political career. He and his wife, Sara, have previously been accused of misusing state funds, charges they have rejected as baseless.
The investigation of an Israeli leader is not without precedent. Ehud Olmert, prime minister from 2006 to 2009, is currently serving time after being convicted of bribery and breach of trust in 2014. The late Ariel Sharon, prime minister from 2001 to 2006, was questioned while in office over corruption and bribery allegations concerning him and his two sons, one of whom was subsequently jailed for corruption.
LINK
The top 11 scandals that have touched Benjamin and Sara Netanyahu, Haaretz February 2015