Police Question Netanyahu Over Gifts -- WSJ
January 03 2017 - 3:02AM
Dow Jones News
By Rory Jones
TEL AVIV -- Israeli police said they questioned Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu for three hours at his official residence on
Monday on suspicion of receiving unlawful gifts.
Local media outlets had in recent days reported police were
considering launching a criminal probe on the matter. Mr. Netanyahu
and his family have previously been subjects of allegations of
corruption, which they have repeatedly denied. They have never been
charged by police. A spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu didn't respond to
a request for comment.
"We pay attention to publications in the media," Mr. Netanyahu
told a Monday meeting of his Likud party in the Israeli Knesset, or
parliament, according to Israeli television. But regarding an
investigation, he said, "there will be nothing because there is
nothing."
Ronald Lauder, president of the World Jewish Congress and
chairman of Clinique Laboratories LLC, a subsidiary of Estée Lauder
Cos., was among those reported by the daily Haaretz newspaper and
other media to have given Mr. Netanyahu gifts. Haaretz reported
that Mr. Lauder told police he had bought suits for Mr. Netanyahu
and provided hospitality to the prime minister's 25-year-old son,
Yair, during his time overseas.
A spokesman for Mr. Lauder said Mr. Lauder had spoken with
Israeli authorities in October on a visit to Israel for the funeral
of statesman Shimon Peres, but has had no further contact with
police investigators. The spokesman declined to comment on details
of the discussions with police.
The reported investigation into Mr. Netanyahu comes as he faces
growing pressure internationally and at home.
Last month, he lambasted the U.S., Israel's main ally, for
allowing the United Nations to censure his government over its
controversial plans to build new settlements in the occupied West
Bank. Mr. Netanyahu has since faced criticism from the Israeli
opposition and members of his own party for his handling of the
U.N. move.
Israeli media in November criticized him over a conflict of
interest he had failed to make public.
Mr. Netanyahu's lawyer acted for a sales representative for
German engineering giant Thyssenkrupp AG in a deal for the Israeli
government to buy submarines, a contract pushed by the prime
minister despite opposition from some of his defense officials.
Opposition lawmakers held up Monday's probe as a sign that Mr.
Netanyahu was unfit to lead.
"As the investigation deepens, Netanyahu's grip on the
government will weaken, and then the people will look for an
alternative," said Isaac Herzog, leader of the left-wing Zionist
Union party, according to Army Radio.
Mr. Netanyahu isn't the first Israeli prime minister to face
investigation.
Former leader Ehud Olmert last year began serving a 19-month
sentence for bribery and obstruction of justice after an
investigation forced him from office in 2009.
"If two prime ministers in a row fall from office because of
corruption, it will be very hard to rehabilitate the public's trust
in its leadership," Yair Lapid, the leader of the opposition Yesh
Atid party, said.
Mr. Netanyahu served as prime minister from 1996 to 1999, and
again since 2009.
An Israeli government watchdog last year released a highly
critical report on his travel expenses during his tenure as finance
minister more than a decade ago.
In the report, State Comptroller Yosef Shapira said Mr.
Netanyahu failed to tell a parliamentary committee that numerous
trips he and family members took between 2003 and 2005 were paid
for by private individuals and organizations.
The travel was investigated in 2014 by then-Attorney General
Yehuda Weinstein, who concluded that the available evidence
provided no grounds for a criminal investigation.
Mr. Shapira reprimanded the prime minister again that same year,
saying living and hospitality expenses for both his official
residence and private home were exorbitant.
After an investigation, Mr. Shapira said he hadn't found
suspicion of criminal conduct by the prime minister or his aides.
But, his office wrote, an elected official should have displayed
more "public sensitivity."
Corrections & Amplifications: Ronald Lauder is chairman of
Clinique Laboratories LLC, a subsidiary of Estée Lauder Cos. An
earlier version of this article incorrectly stated he was chairman
of Estée Lauder. (Jan. 2, 2017)
Write to Rory Jones at rory.jones@wsj.com
(END) Dow Jones Newswires
January 03, 2017 02:47 ET (07:47 GMT)
Copyright (c) 2017 Dow Jones & Company, Inc.
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