Netanyahu feeds media bitter herbs at Likud Passover event

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expressed confidence that he would not be indicted in the investigations concerning him.

By GIL HOFFMAN
Updated: MARCH 23, 2018 00:14
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Likud Passover event, March 22, 2018 (photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at a Likud Passover event, March 22, 2018
(photo credit: AVSHALOM SASSONI)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained at a pre-Passover toast for Likud activists that the police have treated him unfairly by investigating him while ignoring similar actions by his political rivals.
Netanyahu, speaking at the Tel Aviv Fairgrounds on Thursday night, said the police have a policy of “If it’s not Bibi, we don’t touch it.”
He cited Yesh Atid ministers who took out government-funded ads in Yediot Aharonot and received positive coverage in the paper, and MKs who were treated well by the same newspaper for voting for a bill that could shut down its main competitor, Israel Hayom.
“There is a growing feeling of injustice, with many in the nation seeing a witch-hunt by the press, which knows we cannot be beaten democratically,” the prime minister said. “There has been bullying pressure on law enforcement authorities, on thought police, who have not been able to find what is not there to find.”
Netanyahu expressed confidence that he would not be indicted in the investigations concerning him, saying “the day is not far when legal authorities will decide that there wasn’t anything, and therefore there won’t be anything.”
Netanyahu is reportedly expected to be questioned on Monday as part of the Case 4000 investigation, otherwise known as the Bezeq Affair.
In an attack on the media that has become commonplace in his addresses to his party, Netanyahu said, “The press cannot hide how good things are in Israel.” He cited relations with the US being better than ever, and a new peak in support for Israel among the American people.
Referencing the upcoming Passover holiday, Netanyahu said the majority of Israelis prefer the sweet haroset at their Seder, and “only the minority picks the bitter herbs.”
Netanyahu predicted that the Likud would win 40 mandates in the next election. He made no reference to the recent political crisis, the early election that was averted, or the 2007 attack on Syria that have been in the news.
Thousands of Likud supporters came to the event, chanted “Bibi, king of Israel,” and carried signs praising him and attacking the Left.