Israeli PM questioned by police over corruption allegations
What's the story
Police questioned Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu for about three hours over allegations of bribery and corruption; the Israeli Justice Ministry said it was about "receiving benefits from business people" and refused to divulge more details. There have been a string of corruption allegations against Netanyahu in the last one year. However, Netanyahu dismissed reports of wrongdoing, saying "nothing will happen, because there is nothing."
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin Netanyahu: Profile
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu is the current Prime Minister of Israel and serves as Chairman of the Likud party. He served in the special forces of the Israeli Defence Forces, leading several missions in the War of Attrition (1967-70) and the Yom Kippur War in 1973. He is also a graduate from MIT and worked as an economic consultant with the Boston Consulting Group.
Political Career
Netanyahu's political career
Netanyahu served his first term as Israel's PM from 1996-1999; he was the youngest Prime Minister of Israel. He was defeated in the 1999 election, and returned in 2002 to serve as Foreign Minister; he was Finance Minister from 2003-2005 and became the Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of Likud in 2006. He has held 3 successive terms as PM from 2009-present.
Corruption
Allegations of corruption against Netanyahu
In May'13 amid tax raises and austerity measures it was revealed that Netanyahu's office spent $127,000 of public-money on fitting a custom bedroom on his flight to the UK. In Nov'16 Netanyahu was under investigation for conflict-of-interest, over a submarine deal with Thyssenkrupp Marine Systems, Germany. Convicted French businessman Arnaud Mimran claimed to have donated €1 million to Netanyahu during his 2009 election campaign.
Do you know?
Police called for investigations after his first term
Reports said, Israeli police sought a criminal investigation against Netanyahu and his wife in 2000, after his first term as PM. They alleged that his wife used public money for private affairs and kept official gifts instead of returning them to the government.
30 Dec 2016
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing prior to questioning
Reports stated that Israeli police sought a date from the Prime Minister's office to interrogate PM Netanyahu; Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing of any sort. Dismissing the allegations to be similar to those in the past, he said "All these scandals have turned out to be baseless and so will the allegations being published in the media now." Opposition parties are demanding an investigation.
Information
Israeli media scrutinizing Netanyahu's ice-cream bills
Israeli media outlets revealed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu spends $2700 of public money annually on Ice Cream. The gourmet ice cream parlor a couple of blocks from the premier's official residence said Netanyahu's favourite was pistachio while his wife preferred French vanilla.
Historical
Former PM Ehud Olmert stepped down over corruption
It is interesting to note that the former PM of Israel Ehud Olmert was forced to step down amid a similar series of corruption allegations against him. After fending off allegations for years, he finally stepped down facing an indictment by the Attorney-General in 2009.