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JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday called for an investigation into investigators who have brought corruption charges against him, in a move that critics say is an attempt to divert attention from his handling. of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Amid a surge in coronavirus cases, opposition lawmakers also accused Netanyahu of seeking to discredit Israel’s corrupt justice formula while on trial for corruption, fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing.
Netanyahu’s right-winger Likud and his allies expressed anger this week after Israel’s Channel 12 reported that police and prosecutors did not disclose alleged conflicts of interest through an investigator in the instances that opposed him.
“It is transparent that the police and prosecutors are making political decisions contrary to justice and the law to overthrow a right-wing prime minister,” Netanyahu said at the start of a Likud assembly Wednesday night.
“This conduct wants to be investigated,” said Netanyahu, who has consistently accused police and prosecutors of biases that oppose him.
A spokesman for the State of Israel Prosecutor’s Office declined to comment on Channel 12 or Netanyahu’s comments.
Israel’s most years-old prime minister faces public anger over accusations of corruption and his pandemic management, which attracted thousands to the streets in near-protests.
The country has noticed an increase in the number of new cases after the initial good fortune at the beginning of the pandemic, and on Tuesday introduced a week-long crusade of curfews in the middle of the night and school closures. It has reported 1,048 deaths and more than 139,000 cases among its nine million inhabitants.
Netanyahu, whose corruption trial began in May and is expected to resume in January, was sworn in for a fifth term this summer after striking a unity deal with his main electoral rival, former military leader Benny Gantz.
Opposition leader Yair Lapid Netanyahu’s “foolish” request to open an investigation into prosecutors.
“Netanyahu is rushing to abolish democracy in Israel,” Lapid wrote, harshly criticizing the minister’s coronavirus policy on Twitter.
(Report through Rami Ayyub; Editing through Stephen Farrell and Mark Potter)