Israeli leader indicted

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has received charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three corruption cases. This marks the first time in Israel’s history that the current Prime Minister faces indictment in criminal investigations.

During the last pre-indictment hearing, the Israeli Prime Minister’s high-powered legal team tried to convince prosecutors to close the cases, including the most serious charge of bribery. But one unknown Netanyahu appointee is moving forward.

Israel's parliament means that a formal indictment may still be months away. Nevertheless, the charges are a significant blow to Benjamin Netanyahu, who has held office for more than 13 years. He has claimed innocence ever since the criminal investigations became public nearly three years ago.

As the investigation moved forward, Netanyahu refused repeated calls from opposition lawmakers to step down. Unlike a government minister or ordinary lawmaker, who must resign his position if indicted, the Israeli Prime Minister is under no such obligation. Instead, he or she is only required to step down after a conviction and subsequent appeals process has played out, which could take years.

Netanyahu’s team has conducted a campaign to delegitimize the investigations since they were made public in January 2017. Displaying the legal process as a witch hunt, he has often promised that there is no evidence to support the allegations. As the probes have advanced, however, “nothing” has turned into something quite significant.

In the following months, Benjamin Netanyahu has been indicted for corruption. The prime minister’s actions “were carried out amid a conflict of interests, the weighing of outside considerations relating to his own and his family’s interests, and involved the corrupting of the public servants reporting to him,” wrote state prosecutors.