Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s eldest son has been accused of bribery in the so-called “4,000 case” concerning the telecommunications giant Bezek, according Israeli media.
Just hours earlier on Thursday evening, Israeli media reported that a senior police official informed the Tel Aviv Court that Netanyahu’s wife was suspected of accepting a bribe.
The case involves accusations that Netanyahu called for special treatment for Bezek in exchange for favourable reporting on his family on the Walla website belonging to Bezek.
It is suspected that, in exchange, Netanyahu’s associates promoted regulations that brought the company millions of dollars.
Israeli media reported that Jair Netanyahu and his mother Sara worked to coordinate reporting that was favourable to the prime minister with the wife of the company’s largest shareholder, Saul Elovich, and the sites director.
Both Sara Netanyahu and her son were questioned about the case in March. Netanyahu’s family issued a statement late last night rejecting yesterday’s reports.
Mocking the allegations in the statement, the Netanyahu’s said that family’s recently deceased dog Kaya also received positive coverage on the Walla News site.
“Kaya had the good fortune to pass away before she, too, would have been added to the circle of those suspected of bribery,” the Netanyahu family said in a statement. “There is no limit to the absurdity. But in any case, the coverage of the prime minister on Walla News was and remains consistently negative.”
Netanyahu’s wife has already been charged in another second case where it is alleged that she spent tens of thousands of dollars on meals in elite restaurants while she was employed as a cook in the prime minister’s residence.
Sara Netanyahu’s lawyers of have denied the new allegations. The Prime Minister also denied any wrongdoing and denounced what he called a media “witch hunt” against him and his family.
Netanyahu has been questioned eleven times in connection with various allegations of corruption, including allegations that he received expensive gifts from wealthy foreign businessmen.
