ZCZC
BFF-40
ISRAEL-COURT-CORRUPTION-POLITICS-NETANYAHU
Netanyahu wants pre-indictment hearing broadcast live
JERUSALEM, Sept 26, 2019 (BSS/AFP) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin
Netanyahu on Thursday asked the attorney general to allow a live broadcast of
his hearing next week ahead of his possible indictment for corruption because
he has “nothing to hide.”
Netanyahu’s legal team is to present its arguments to the justice ministry
on Wednesday and Thursday, after the attorney general in February said he
intended to indict the premier for bribery, fraud and breach of trust pending
the hearing.
Netanyahu’s request came a day after President Reuven Rivlin tasked him
with forming a new government following September 17 general elections, which
left neither him nor his opponent Benny Gantz with a clear majority to form a
coalition.
“After three years of a deluge of leaks, misleading and partial, it’s time
the public hears everything — my side too, completely and fully, without
mediators, censors and distorters,” Netanyahu said in a video distributed by
a spokesman.
“I therefore ask that the attorney general open the hearing to a live
broadcast.”
Netanyahu denies all the accusations and has labelled them bids by his
enemies to force him from office, which he has held for a total of over 13
years, the longest in Israeli history.
“There will be leaks anyway, we’ve seen 300 leaks already with no
treatment or investigation. That practice will continue,” he said. “So why
let the public be fed partial information only?”
“Not only do I have nothing to hide, I want everything to be heard,” he
said, adding that a live broadcast was “how we can ensure justice and truth.”
Netanyahu is not expected to attend the hearing himself and will be
represented by his lawyers.
The hearing gives Netanyahu’s legal team a final chance to defend him
before Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit decides whether to move ahead with
an indictment.
Netanyahu is not required to step down as prime minister if indicted, only
if convicted with all appeals exhausted.
BSS/AFP/RY/1800 hrs