No recommendations in Netanyahu probes before Passover
Officers will likely interrogate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the eighth time and conduct further questioning of others with suspected ties.
By UDI SHAHAMUpdated: JANUARY 7, 2018 00:37Police chat near a patrol car (photo credit: MARK PROBST / WIKIMEDIA COMMONS)
Predictions that police will announce their recommendations in Cases 1000 and 2000 in a month’s time were premature, and will probably happen instead in April, around Passover, senior law enforcement personnel said.Police have not gathered all the material they need in order to complete their investigations in both cases – 1000, the “gifts affair” and 2000, the “Yediot Aharonot affair,” according to a Channel 2 News report on Friday.Officers will likely interrogate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for the eighth time and conduct further questioning of others with suspected ties, including those abroad, it was also reported.It was recently reported that police are leaning toward indicting Netanyahu on charges of accepting bribes, fraud, and breach of trust.In Case 1000, which is considered the stronger of the two cases regarding the prime minister, police suspect that Netanyahu received expensive gifts worth hundreds of thousands of shekels from various businessmen, including international movie mogul Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer, and in return, used his power to benefit them.Both Milchan and Packer confirmed delivering expensive gifts, including cigars, champagne and jewelry, to Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, but denied bribery allegations.Last month, the testimony of Hadas Klein, who worked as a personal assistant to both Milchan and Packer, was made public.Klein is a key witness in the investigation. She spoke about a substantial supply of champagne and cigars but did not know whether the businessmen received anything in return.In Case 2000, the prime minister is accused of negotiating with Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes for favorable coverage in exchange for his support to weaken Israel Hayom, the most widely circulated Hebrew-language paper and Yediot’s biggest competitor.After his last questioning on December 17, Netanyahu said: “There’s nothing new under the sun. I answered all of the questions I was asked, and this time I say with full confidence: There will be nothing because there is nothing.”
