The Israel police have gathered enough evidence to charge Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in a third corruption case, a statement confirmed on Sunday.
Dubbed as the 'C4000' the case is the largest faced by the Israeli leader and ones closely connected to him. The case pertains to the ties between the Government's Ministry of Communications and Israel-based telecommunication company Bezeq.
The investigation in the case has revealed that Netanyahu sanctioned regulatory benefits up to the tunes of USD 280 million to Shaul Elovitch, the majority shareholder of Bezeq and a friend of the Prime Minister. Investigators added that Elovitch repaid the favour by publishing pro-Netanyahu biased news in Walla! News, a news website owned by Elovitch.
The police stated that there is enough proof to level charges of bribery, interference with an investigation and financial crimes on Elovitch.
Both Netanyahu and Elovitch have refuted the charges.
"The police recommendations against me and my wife do not surprise anyone. These recommendations were decided and leaked before the investigation had even begun. The police recommendations have no legal standing. There was nothing because there is nothing," Netanyahu said in a statement.
The two previous cases against Netanyahu also involve charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust, with police claiming to have enough proof to indict the leader.
The first case, Case 1000, involves Netanyahu allegedly receiving gifts worth USD 2, 80, 000 from foreign businessmen from 2007 to 2016. The second case against Netanyahu, Case 2000, pertains to the conversations he held with the owner of one of Israel's leading newspapers Yedioth Ahronoth, Arnon Mozes, who regularly criticises the Prime Minister.
Following the police statement, opposition leaders have called for Netanyahu's resignation.
"Netanyahu has to go before he takes down law enforcement authorities in order to save himself. The people of Israel deserve clean leadership," former Foreign Minister Tzipi Livni said.
Meanwhile, Labor Party chief Avi Gabbay said, "A prime minister with so many criminal cases around him cannot continue in his job and must resign."
The Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who is reviewing the police evidence, will take the decision on whether to prosecute Nethayahu or not.
(This story has not been edited by Business Standard staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)