Former Israeli Police Adviser Promises “Earthquake” Revelations in Prime Minister Probe

A former adviser to Israel’s police commissioner has grabbed local headlines, declaring the revelations soon to come in the multiple investigations of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu will cause “a political earthquake.” While the Lior Horev statement is energizing the spectacle of the double investigation, a police spokeswoman acted quickly to quash the story, insisting that, “No outside adviser is exposed or has been exposed to investigation materials [from either investigation].” Netanyahu is the subject of two major corruption inquiries: one in which he allegedly cut a deal with a political nemesis who owns the nation’s leading newspaper to trade the prime minister’s promotion of legislation that would benefit the publisher and be detrimental to his competitor in return for the publisher’s newspaper to carry positive stories about the PM in the run-up to an election; and the other, a bribery case in which Netanyahu received scores of expensive personal gifts from wealthy supporters which prosecutors argue were bribes for Netanyahu to return favors. The investigations are nearing the indictment stage which could mean national elections if Netanyahu is indicted. The legal pursuit comes as the man the nation refers to by his childhood nickname, Bibi, closes in on the record for serving as prime minister. In each case, the prosecutors have cut deals with former intimates of Netanyahu who reportedly provided great amounts of the first-hand testimony that many believe will be too much for the PM to overcome.