Investigators were seen arriving at the residence of the Israeli Prime Minister in Jerusalem on Friday, in video shown on Israeli TV, indicating Benjamin Netanyahu is being questioned for an eighth time in ongoing corruption investigations.
Footage on Channel 2 News showed police arriving at the Prime Minister’s house, and, separately, showed his wife, Sara Netanyahu, arriving for questioning at the police anti-corruption unit in the Israeli town of Lod.
Netanyahu has been questioned seven times already in two separate corruption cases, and has been named a suspect in both of them; but he is expected to be questioned for the first time Friday in two newer — and bigger — cases, known as Case 3000 and Case 4000.
Case 3000 deals with alleged corruption relating to the multi-million dollar purchase of German submarines, while Case 4000 deals with the relationship between the Ministry of Communications — during a period when it was being run from the Prime Minister’s Office — and Israeli telecommunications firm Bezeq.
In Case 4000, investigators say the ministry illegally advanced Bezeq’s interests in exchange for favorable news coverage for the Israeli leader. The controlling shareholder of Bezeq, Shaul Elovitch, is a close friend of Netanyahu and owns online news site Walla! News.
A lawyer for Elovitch has said previously that his client “vehemently denies the suspicions against him” in the case.
Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing in any of the cases involving him, decrying the investigations as a “witch hunt.”
If he is named a suspect in either case, Netanyahu would come under increased pressure, just weeks after police said they had enough evidence to indict him in two older cases.
Israel’s Attorney General is weighing up that evidence and is expected to decide in a few months whether to bring charges.
So far Netanyahu’s political allies have said they are standing by him, until they hear from the Attorney General.