Israeli‘s prime minister accused his opponents of trying to carry out an “attempted coup” against him after he was formally charged Thursday in a series of corruption cases.
Benjamin Netanyahu has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different scandals — the first time a sitting prime minister is charged with a crime in Israel.
The allegations against him include suspicions that he accepted hundreds of thousands of dollars in champagne and cigars from billionaire friends, offered to trade favors with a newspaper publisher, and used his influence to help a wealthy telecom magnate in exchange for favorable coverage on a popular news site.
“A day in which the attorney general decides to serve an indictment against a seated prime minister for serious crimes of corrupt governance is a heavy and sad day, for the Israeli public and for me personally,” Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit told reporters Thursday. – READ MORE