Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced Thursday that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Netanyahu faces up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum 3-year term for fraud and breach of trust, according to legal experts. He has denied any wrongdoing and said he is the victim of a “witch hunt.” In a nationally televised address on Thursday night, he added: “I give my life to this state, I fought for it, I was wounded for it. I have to say this is a very hard day. I think you need to be blind to see that something wrong is going on. This is a political coup.”
The prime minister insisted, without presenting evidence, that the indictment is a political vendetta. “It’s very disturbing what is going on here and how the police conducted this investigation,” Netanyahu said. “This is a contaminated process, we need to investigate the investigators, they didn’t want the truth, they were after me personally.”
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