PM: “There Will Be Nothing Because There Is Nothing”
Every day seems to bring a new revelation in the corruption scandals swirling around Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu. Wednesday came reports that billionaire Hollywood producer Arnold Milchan who is believed to have given Netanyahu and his wife expensive gifts, was questioned under caution for allegedly bribing the Prime Minister.
Israeli press reports said that Milchan had already spoken to Israeli police twice and admitted that he had given the Prime Minister lavish gifts of cigars and champagne over the years. The reports said that Milchan denied that he received anything in exchange for the gifts. But the fact that Israeli police flew to London to question Milchan and that he was questioned “under caution” indicates that police believe there might have been bribery involved, and Netanyahu could be guilty of taking bribes.
Netanyahu’s office again denied any wrongdoing, insisting that the gifts were simply presents between longstanding friends. “Any attempt to read anything improper into the deep and longstanding friendship between Prime Minister Netanyahu and Arnon Milchan is baseless and destined to fail. We reiterate: there will be nothing because there was nothing,” a statement from Netanyahu’s office read.
Earlier this week it was the arrest of several other senior officials in the submarine affair, which is the most serious scandal facing the Prime Minister, although he is not directly implicated. Those arrested this week include David Sharan, Netanyahu’s chief of staff until 2016; a former head of the Israeli navy; a former naval commando head; and a former minister. In that case, the senior official allegedly bribed senior defense officials to advance a deal with German shipbuilder ThyssenKrupp, to gain millions of dollars in commissions.
There is also Case 2000, which are allegations that Netanyahu tried to make a deal with the editor of Yediot Aharonot, Israel’s largest newspaper, and longtime bitter political foe, for positive coverage prior to the last election in exchange for hurting Yisrael Hayom, the free daily funded by erstwhile Netanyahu supporter Sheldon Adelson that had overtaken Yediot’s top market position.
There are also the allegations against Netanyahu’s wife Sara that she misused more than $110,000 in state funds for personal use. Israeli press reports say they expect the Attorney General to issue an indictment in the next few days.
In all of these cases Netanyahu has repeatedly intoned the same slogan: “There will be nothing because there was nothing.” Netanyahu’s Likud base is listening. At recent rallies, the Prime Minister has been received like a hero with chants of “Bibi, King of Israel.”
He has stressed his diplomatic achievements instead. At a pre- Jewish New Years’ toast at Israel’s Foreign Ministry, Netanyahu lauded the “great breakthroughs on all the continents; our return to Africa and the expansion of our technical assistance there is leading to a great deal of interest on the continent.” The prime minister, who also serves as foreign minister, leaves next week for Latin America, where he will visit Argentina, Colombia and Mexico, before going to the UN General Assembly in New York.
Sounding very much like President Trump, Netanyahu said, “We are holding the toast early due to success, since we are going to make an historic visit; it seems that this will be the first time that a sitting prime minister of Israel will be traveling to the countries of Central and South America. This is a gigantic bloc that we have not yet visited.”Netanyahu is clearly feeling the pressure of the ongoing investigations, and some Israeli analysts have described it as the “beginning of the end” of Netanyahu. But others say that might be jumping the gun.
“There is no question that he has been hurt by all of these investigations and I imagine that as each day goes by, it increases,” Yehuda Ben Meir, the head of the National Security and Public Opinion Project at INSS, a think tank at Tel Aviv University, told The Media Line. “At the moment, however, it is not fatal. In response to the question of “Who is the best choice to be Prime Minister?” he still receives the highest total, although the gap with Yair Lapid (the head of a centrist party) is closing.”
At the same time, Ben Meir, said more than half of Israelis said they don’t buy his slogan of “there is nothing” and believe that some of the suspicions against him may be true. That said, most Israelis do not see any alternative to Netanyahu.
There has been some speculation that Netanyahu might go to early elections as a way to solidify his support. Ben Meir says that in Israel it takes at least 90 days to hold elections and he does not believe the Prime Minister will take a chance that an indictment can be issued during this period.
According to Israeli law, Netanyahu does not have to step down if he is indicted, only if he is convicted. Most Israeli analysts say Netanyahu will do whatever he can to stay in office. “His strategy will be to delay and deny and to keep himself in office any way he can,” Bradley Burston, a columnist with the Ha’aretz newspaper told The Media Line. “For him to leave under a cloud of scandal doesn’t serve his view of himself or of history.”
Burston says that the fact that close associates of Netanyahu’s have turned state’s witness is not good news for the prime minister.
“I truly believe these charges cannot be defeated,” he said. “The best he can do is fight the authorities to a draw where he makes some kind of artful deal that might keep him out of prison.”