JERUSALEM (AP) — Israel’s legal professional basic has ordered police to open an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s spouse on suspicion of harassing political opponents and a witness within the Israeli chief’s corruption trial.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara made the announcement in a terse message late Thursday, saying the investigation would deal with the findings of a current report by the “Uvda” investigative program into Sara Netanyahu.
The program uncovered a trove of WhatsApp messages during which Mrs. Netanyahu seems to instruct a former aide to arrange protests in opposition to political opponents and to intimidate Hadas Klein, a key witness within the trial.
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The announcement didn’t point out Mrs. Netanyahu by title, and the Justice Ministry declined additional remark.
But in a video launched earlier Thursday, Netanyahu listed what he mentioned had been the various form and charitable acts by his spouse and blasted the Uvda report as “lies.”
“My opponents on the left and within the media discovered a new-old goal. They mercilessly assault my spouse, Sara,” he mentioned. He referred to as this system ”false propaganda, nasty propaganda that brings up lies from the darkness.”
It was the newest in an extended line of authorized troubles for the Netanyahus — highlighted by the prime minister’s ongoing corruption trial. The pair have additionally had a rocky relationship with the Israeli media.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of belief and accepting bribes in a sequence of instances alleging he exchanged favors with highly effective media moguls and rich associates. Netanyahu denies the fees and says he’s the sufferer of a “witch hunt” by overzealous prosecutors, police and the media.
The report obtained correspondence between Sara Netanyahu and Hanni Bleiweiss, a former aide to the prime minister who died of most cancers final 12 months. The messages indicated that Sara Netanyahu, by Bleiweiss, inspired police to crack down violently on anti-government protesters and ordered Bleiweiss to arrange protests in opposition to her husband’s critics. She additionally instructed Bleiweiss to get activists in Netanyahu’s Likud get together to publish assaults on Klein.
Klein is an aide to billionaire Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan and has testified within the corruption case about her position in delivering tens of 1000’s of {dollars} price of champagne, cigars and presents to Netanyahu for her boss.
According to the report, Bleiweiss additionally was instructed to arrange demonstrations exterior the properties of the lead prosecutor within the corruption case, Liat Ben-Ari, after which Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who had issued the indictments, and protests and social media campaigns smearing political opponents.
According to the report, Bleiweiss was a loyal help to Netanyahu for many years. But whereas she was unwell, it mentioned Sara Netanyahu mistreated her, prompting her to share the messages with a reporter shortly earlier than her loss of life.
Sara Netanyahu has been accused of abusive habits towards her private employees earlier than. This, along with accusations of extreme spending and utilizing public cash for her personal extravagant preferences, has earned her a picture as being out of contact with on a regular basis Israelis. In 2019, she was fined for misusing state funds.
National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, who oversees police and has repeatedly mentioned the legal professional basic, Baharav-Miara ought to be fired over a sequence of grievances in opposition to her, mentioned the newest announcement was one more reason for her to be dismissed.
“Someone who politically persecutes authorities ministers and their households can’t proceed to function the legal professional basic,” he mentioned.
And Justice Minister Yariv Levin, one other Netanyahu ally and critic of Baharav-Miara, accused her of specializing in “tv gossip.”
“Selective enforcement is against the law!” he mentioned in a press release.
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AP correspondents Eleanor H. Reich in New York and Isaac Scharf in Jerusalem contributed reporting.
