Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu
Israeli police will question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday over corruption allegations, local media reported on Wednesday.
According to Channel Two, investigators will question Netanyahu on suspicions that he awarded favors to Israel’s telecom company Bezeq Telecom in return for favorable coverage on the company’s news site.
Friday’s session of interrogation will be the last one in this case, the channel said.
Police investigators will be assumed to have gathered sufficient evidence of bribery to recommend an indictment against Netanyahu, it added.
Netanyahu has been the subject of criminal investigations in separate corruption cases. He has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing.
In February, Israeli police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for alleged corruption, saying there was now sufficient evidence to formally charge him in two separate graft cases.
The first case involves Israeli Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, who was allegedly asked to purchase luxury items for Netanyahu and his wife.
The second relates to an alleged deal -- again for favorable media coverage -- with Arnon Mozes, publisher of Hebrew-language daily Yedioth Ahronoth.
Israeli bulldozers on Wednesday demolished two Palestinian-owned apartments in East Jerusalem’s Al-Issawiya village on the pretext that they had been built without permits, witnesses said.Witnesses told Anadolu Agency that both apartments, which are located next to each other, are owned by Nader Jamil Nasser, a Palestinian resident of the village.Israeli police have since cordoned off the area in which the demolitions were carried out, witnesses said.Video: Israel demolishes Palestinian-owned building in East JerusalemIn recent years, Israel has stepped up illegal settlement construction in the occupied West Bank in tandem with the ongoing demolition of Palestinian homes in occupied East Jerusalem.The Israeli authorities prohibit Palestinians from carrying out any construction activities in Jerusalem without official permits.The city’s Palestinian residents say they face numerous bureaucratic obstacles when trying to obtain construction permits from the Israeli authorities.International law views the West Bank and East Jerusalem as “occupied territories” and considers all Jewish settlement building there to be illegal.Israel protests ICC calls to help ‘Palestine’ victimsIsrael re-opens Gaza’s commercial crossing
Israel razes two Palestinian apartments in East Jerusalem
Israel has lodged a formal protest with the International Criminal Court (ICC) following recent calls by the latter to help the “victims of the situation in Palestine”, Israeli media reported Wednesday. According to the Times of Israel news website, officials at Israel’s ministries of justice and foreign affairs were angered by the court move, which, they say, serves to cast doubt on The Hague-based tribunal’s objectivity.Last month, three ICC judges called for the establishment of “a system of public information and outreach activities for the benefit of the victims and affected communities of the situation in Palestine”. Israel re-opens Gaza’s commercial crossingThe Times of Israel quoted one unnamed Israeli source as saying: “The Israeli government was shocked by the judge’s decision on July.” The source went on to assert that the international court lacked jurisdiction over the Palestine-Israel file.According to the same source, ICC Chief Prosecutor Fatou Bensouda has yet to rule whether the court enjoys jurisdiction over matters related to the perennial conflict.Trump’s global policy a string of abandoned commitmentsIn late May, the Ramallah-based Palestinian Authority called on the ICC to launch an investigation into illegal Israeli settlement-building and alleged war crimes. Palestine formally joined the ICC in 2015 after Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas signed the Rome Statute the previous year. Although Israel signed the Rome Statute (which established the court) in 2000, it is not a member of the ICC.
Israel protests ICC calls to help ‘Palestine’ victims
Israel on Wednesday re-opened the Kerem Shalom border crossing – Gaza’s only commercial cross point – after over a month of closure, according to the Israeli military.In a statement, the army said the main cargo crossing “will be reopened this morning for full activity”.The move came one day after Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman said Tuesday that the terminal would be reopened if calm along Gaza border continued to hold.Israeli authorities shut down the commercial cross point last month as a punitive measure over the launch of incendiary balloons by Palestinian activists from the seaside enclave into Israel, banning all deliveries except food and medicine.Since 2007, the Gaza Strip has groaned under a crippling Israeli blockade that continues to deprive its inhabitants of many essential commodities, including food, fuel, medicine and building materials.In recent weeks, Palestinians have been staging weekly protests along Gaza’s eastern border with Israel against Israel’s decades-long occupation and an 11-year blockade on the seaside strip.Since the protests began in March, more than 160 Palestinians have been martyred and thousands more injured by Israeli army fire.
Israel re-opens Gaza’s commercial crossing