Israel: Opposition party denounces ‘criminal’ Netanyahu

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his governing right-wing Likud Party have been acting like “criminals” in a “dark and underhanded” manner, according to a complaint by the opposition Blue and White bloc submitted to the state comptroller, the Jerusalem Post has reported.

In the complaint filed today, the bloc is demanding an investigation into financial and political misconduct by Netanyahu and the Likud. They are accused of paying a private investigation company to track Blue and-White leader Benny Gantz.

“This is a violation of the Party Financing Act, as it is an expense for service given as a part of the elections, which was left unpaid and was not reported in accordance with the law,” the bloc said. “Netanyahu is again accepting illegal donations and using low and underhanded tactics. All to escape his prosecution.”

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Denouncing Netanyahu as a criminal the statement added that, after 13 years in power, the Likud has nothing to offer the public other than “just not Gantz”.

Israel’s longest-serving leader, Netanyahu is fighting for his political survival in a General Election on Monday. It is Israel’s third in less than a year after inconclusive ballots last April and September.

With the Prime Minister indicted for corruption in three separate cases, the Likud have pulled out all the stops to secure his re-election. It was announced this week, for example, that 3,500 new illegal homes are being planned for equally illegal settlers in a particularly contentious area of the occupied West Bank.

In an attempt to win votes, the Likud government apparently took 43 Jews from the Falashmura community in Ethiopia to Israel. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit opposed the move, suspecting that it was a ploy to win the votes of Israelis of Ethiopian origin.