Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has reportedly allowed his lawyers to pursue a plea deal in a public corruption case against him.
Netanyahu’s lawyers are negotiating a deal with Israel’s attorney general in which he would accept some of the charges against him and avoid jail time, sources told the New York Times. Netanyahu pleaded not guilty in February 2021 to all the charges in the corruption case against him.
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“The trial is collapsing,” Miri Regev, a former minister under Netanyahu, said in a Hebrew television interview, according to the Times of Israel. “The whole case was a despicable effort to get rid of a right-wing prime minister, hatched [by the state prosecution] in Salah-e-Din Street.”
The main hitch in the reported negotiations is that Netanyahu, 72, does not want to accept a charge of “moral turpitude,” which would prevent him from serving in public office for seven years. He is currently a member of Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, where he serves as the leader of the opposition.
The current proposal would result in him doing community service instead of receiving jail time. The negotiations are taking place in private and are in the early stages.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019, while still serving as the nation’s prime minister, by the attorney general of Israel, whom he had previously appointed. The former prime minister was charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He was first investigated by the Israel Police in 2016 on allegations related to the current charges. The police recommended the attorney general indict Netanyahu in 2018, the Washington Post reported.
Netanyahu was the first Israeli prime minister indicted on corruption charges while in office. He was accused of accepting about $264,000 in gifts from several businessmen interested in public favors. He was also accused of giving members of the media favors in exchange for positive coverage. Netanyahu has vehemently denied all of the charges against him.
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Netanyahu attempted to stay on as prime minister despite being indicted. But after a tight election and tense negotiations between the country’s political parties, he was ultimately replaced by Naftali Bennett in June of last year. Netanyahu served as prime minister of Israel for 12 consecutive years.
Attorney General of Israel Avichai Mandelblit, who brought the indictments against Netanyahu, is set to retire on Feb. 1.
