Netanyahu’s Legal Woes Grow

Jerusalem, 26 February, 2017 (TPS) -- The police have announced that they have concluded their investigation against Ari Harrow, the PM’s former Chief of Staff, and have recommended that the State Prosecution indict him.

He is accused of having abused his position to promote his business interests while still in office.

According to leaks emanating from both the police and the State Prosecution, Harrow has been offered a plea bargain, if he agrees to become a state witness. Since the only person he could have evidence against would be the PM, this bodes ill for Netanyahu, as it is highly probable Harrow can provide key evidence that could help police prove the suspicions against him.

Even worse, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira announced at the end of last week that he had ordered his office to investigate whether Yisrael Hayom, the pro-Netanyahu newspaper funded by Sheldon Adelson, was in fact a political contribution.

Yisrael Hayom, called in Hebrew “bibiton” (a play on words combining Bibi, the PM’s nickname, with iton, the Hebrew word for newspaper), was founded by Adelson as a free daily paper to support Netanyahu. It has no business model, as it is distributed free, and has minimal advertising, which means the entire cost is born by Adelson. This has enabled it to become the country’s most widely read newspaper.

If the investigation determines that having a wealthy benefactor fund a newspaper whose explicit purpose is to support the PM constitutes a political contribution, Netanayhu could find himself facing further charges, as he never disclosed the funds spent on the paper as a political contribution he had received.

The law requires candidates to disclose to the State Comptroller detailed information regarding contributions they receive. Failure to do so constitutes a criminal offense. This means that Netanyahu could find himself facing new charges, over and above the ones already under investigation.