Benjamin Netanyahu rejects charges: Police set me up
Netanyahu: Indictment is an “attempted coup,” says investigators need to be investigated.
By HERB KEINONIsrael's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with Cabinet Secretary Avichai Mandelblit (R) during the weekly cabinet meeting in Jerusalem(photo credit: MENAHEM KAHANA / REUTERS)
An ashen-looking but combative Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the decision to indict him on a series of corruption charges was an “attempted government coup,” and demanded that”the investigators be investigated.”An hour after Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit briefly explained the reasons behind his decision to indict Netanyahu on Thursday evening, the prime minister addressed the country from his residence and said that while he has “great respect” for the country's judicial system, “something not good is happening to the police investigators and the state-attorney's office.”He characterized the legal process against him as “condminiated” and full of “false allegations,” and charged that the investigators were not “looking for the truth, they were looking for me.”Netanyahu said the entire legal process against him was aimed at “toppling a prime minister from the right,” and pointed out that the decision to indict was made on the same day that the coalition-forming process was kicked over to the Knesset, “the most sensitive political moment the nation has ever faced.”“I appeal to my political opponents, decent political rivals, who understand that in order for our state to prosper and flourish, in order for it to exist, there has to be a reliable and impartial rule of law here,” he said.Asserting that the rule of law has been trampled, Netanyahu said the “investigators must be investigated,” and called for an independent committee to do just that.In a 17-minute speech, Netanyahyu continuously attacked the police investigators and state attorney's office saying that the public has lost faith in them, and listed a number of politicians whose terms were cut short by investigations that went nowhere.Netanyahu preempted charges that he was hamring the rule of law by attacking its practitioners, saying that no one is above criticism.The prime minister said that some had advised him to “bow his head and curry favor.” But, he said, “the feeling of righteousness and justice burns inside me.”Netanyahu said he will not sit by idly while a “perversion of justice” is being committed.“I will not let the lie win,” he concluded. “I will continue to lead the country according to the law, as it is written. I will continue to lead the country responsibly, with dedication, with concern for the security and future of us all. For the sake of the state – the investigators need to be investigated.”
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