TEL AVIV—Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a suspect in a third corruption investigation that poses a serious challenge to the embattled leader, who so far has rallied support to maintain power.

Police also questioned the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu, conducting the interview Friday at the same time as her husband’s but in a different location, a police spokeswoman said. The police haven’t yet ascertained whether the first lady is also a suspect, the spokeswoman said. </s> Israeli police Friday questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu as a suspect in a third corruption investigation that poses a serious challenge to the embattled leader, who so far has rallied support to maintain power, according to a report from Dow Jones Newswires supplied to EFE.

Police also questioned the prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu, regarding the case, conducting the interview at the same time as her husband but in a different location, a police spokeswoman said. </s> Israeli Police to Grill Netanyahu and Wife Sara Today for Suspected Bribery

Police will simultaneously question Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Friday on suspicion of taking bribes from media mogul as part of the so-called telecom affair </s> Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, has been charged with alleged fraud.

The Justice Ministry on Thursday accused her of alleged misuse of state funds.

Sara Netanyahu was charged along with Ezra Saidoff, a former deputy director general of the Prime Minister’s Office.

“The Jerusalem district prosecutor a short time ago filed charges against the prime minister’s wife,” the ministry said.

The allegations concern the misuse of around $100,000 in official funds for catering services at the prime minister’s residence in Jerusalem.

Netanyahu himself faces several police investigations into alleged corruption.

But the Prime Minister has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations against him and his wife as a media witch-hunt. </s> JERUSALEM (Reuters) - Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara on Friday for the first time in a corruption case that involves the country’s largest telecommunications company, Israel Radio said.

Israeli police confirmed that an anti-corruption unit had questioned the couple for several hours each, but did not say whether the questioning was in connection with the case of Bezeq Israel Telecom.

The case is one of at least four investigations surrounding the four-term prime minister or his associates announced last month, which have put his political survival in jeopardy. In February police recommended that Netanyahu, 68, be indicted for bribery in two other corruption investigations. (For a graphic on investigations of Netanyahu, click tmsnrt.rs/2iE4zAN)

Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing and says he is the victim of a “witch-hunt.”

In the Bezeq case, known as Case 4000, authorities allege that the owners of the telecoms firm provided favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife on a news website they controlled in return for favors from regulators.

The company has denied wrongdoing. Police have yet to make a recommendation about charges in the case.

In a video message posted on his Facebook page about three hours after police left his residence, the prime minister said he was confidant nothing would come of the investigations.

Netanyahu is scheduled to fly to the United States on Saturday and to meet President Donald Trump on March 5.

Sara Netanyahu’s lawyer said her questioning took place at a police station near Tel Aviv, while the prime minister was questioned at his official residence in Jerusalem. The lawyer said Sara was questioned under police caution, indicating that she could become a suspect.

Police investigating the case have arrested the controlling shareholder of Bezeq Telecom, Shaul Elovitch, and Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu spokesman, who have both denied wrongdoing. Israeli media reported that they were both also being questioned on Friday.

A representative for Elovitch had no immediate comment and Hefetz’s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Shlomo Filber, a confidant of Netanyahu and former director general of the Communications Ministry, has also been arrested in connection with the case. Israeli media have reported that he has agreed to turn state’s witness.

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As reports of the police interviews emerged, protesters gathered outside the prime minister’s residence, demanding he step down.

Protestors shout slogans during a demonstration outside the Israeli Prime Minister's residency in Jerusalem, March 2, 2018. REUTERS/Ammar Awad

“We want to see Netanyahu go to trial and, if needed, go to jail or go home. Let our people go free from all the corruption surrounding the government and the head of it,” said Shimrit Orr, 72, a writer, from Tel Aviv.

There were a few dozen protesters, singing songs and banging plastic pipes on garbage cans. Some cars beeped their horns in support as they drove by.

“A prime minister under investigation cannot, and may not, take crucial decisions,” said Shuki Cohen, 63, an economist from Moshav Arugot.

The right-wing prime minister has been Israel’s dominant political figure for a generation, in power since 2009 and for 12 years in total since 1996. He says that he has done nothing wrong, and has said that he will seek a fifth term in an election due in late 2019.

In the two other cases in which police have already recommended that Netanyahu be charged, the final decision about whether or not to prosecute rests with the Israeli attorney general. That decision could be weeks or months away.

In one of the investigations, known as Case 1000, he is suspected of bribery over gifts, which police say were worth nearly $300,000, from wealthy businessmen.

The other, Case 2000, involves an alleged plot to win positive coverage in Israel’s biggest newspaper by offering to take measures to curtail the circulation of a rival daily.

So far, partners in Netanyahu’s governing coalition have stood by him, saying they are awaiting the attorney-general’s next moves. Political analysts say such support could erode if the investigations against Netanyahu intensify.

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Netanyahu could also call a snap election to try to stall legal proceedings during the campaign and rally his rightwing power base behind him. Recent polls show Netanyahu’s Likud ahead of other factions in the Knesset.

However, surveys also show that about half of Israelis believe the police over Netanyahu and think he should step down. A third think he should remain in office. </s> Israeli prosecutors have charged Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife, with a series of crimes including fraud and breach of trust.

JERUSALEM — Israeli prosecutors have charged Sara Netanyahu, the prime minister’s wife, with a series of crimes including fraud and breach of trust.

The Justice Ministry says in a statement on Thursday that Sara Netanyahu stands accused of misusing public funds by fraudulently ordering hundreds of meals to the prime minister’s official residence worth over $100,000 while falsely stating there were no cooks on staff.

A former deputy director of the prime minister’s residence is also charged in the case.

Sara Netanyahu has long faced allegations of abusive behavior and living extravagantly in a manner out of touch with the general public.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu also faces several police investigations into alleged corruption. Netanyahu has denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations against him and his wife as a media witch hunt. </s> Sara Netanyahu, wife of the Israeli prime minister, is charged with fraud.

She is accused of misusing $100,000 in state funds for catering services at their Jerusalem residence. The charge represents the latest development in corruption scandals dogging Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.

The prime minister was not named in the case.

Follow the Bangor Daily News on Facebook for the latest Maine news. </s> Jerusalem (AFP) – Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife for several hours on Friday over corruption allegations that threaten the rightwing premier’s long tenure.

The questioning, the eighth such session since 2017, came after police last month recommended Netanyahu’s indictment in two graft cases.

Israeli media said the five-hour grilling related to allegations Netanyahu sought a deal with Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of telecoms group Bezeq, which would have seen Netanyahu receive good press on Elovitch’s Walla! news website in exchange for business concessions.

Netanyahu, 68, has denied all charges and rejected talk of stepping down. He is due to meet US President Donald Trump, perhaps his closest international ally, at the White House on Monday.

An AFP journalist saw police arriving at Netanyahu’s official Jerusalem residence in two vehicles at around 9 am (0700 GMT).

His wife Sara was questioned at the national fraud squad headquarters near Tel Aviv, media said.

Elovitch and Nir Hefetz, a former media adviser to the Netanyahu family, were among seven suspects arrested last week as fraud suspicions against Netanyahu snowballed.

In addition, Israeli army radio said Friday that “a former senior communications ministry official close to the prime minister was detained this morning for questioning in the Bezeq affair.”

He was not named.

Channel 10 News reported on Thursday evening that police have seen text conversations between Sara and Elovitch’s wife Iris which strengthen suspicions that their husbands traded favours.

Iris Elovitch and the couple’s son Or were among the seven suspects rounded up last week.

She was released from custody to house arrest Monday and Or Elovitch was freed on bail, police said.

A statement issued after the broadcast by advisers to Netanyahu branded the report “fake news.”

“No such things ever occurred,” it said in Hebrew. “Tendentious and lying leaks against Mrs. Netanyahu are intended to hurt the prime minister and the Likud government.”

Hefetz is alleged to have acted as a messenger between Netanyahu and Bezeq and Walla! bosses.

He is also suspected of trying to bribe a retired judge to block a probe into the prime minister’s wife over alleged misuse of public funds.

Public radio said on Friday that both were being questioned at fraud squad headquarters simultaneously with Sara but separately.

Police have now questioned the premier eight times since the beginning of 2017, and last month said there was sufficient evidence to charge him with graft, fraud and breach of trust in two other cases.

In one, he and family members are suspected of receiving one million shekels ($285,000, 230,000 euros) of luxury cigars, champagne and jewellery from wealthy figures in exchange for financial or personal favours.

In the other case, investigators suspect the premier of trying to reach an agreement with the owner of Yediot Aharonot, a top Israeli daily newspaper, for more favourable coverage.

Israeli media said police would question him on the Bezeq affair for the first time on Friday and would also take from him a statement as a witness in suspected corruption around Israel’s purchase of three submarines from German industrial giant ThyssenKrupp.

The cases have fuelled speculation he could be forced to step down or call an early election but Netanyahu says he is innocent of any wrongdoing.

The other parties in his rightwing government have so far stood by him.

Eli Kamir, another former Netanyahu adviser arrested last week, was on Wednesday released from police custody but placed under house arrest.

Shlomo Filber, a Netanyahu ally for more than 20 years and former director general of the communications ministry, was freed last week after agreeing to turn state’s witness in exchange for avoiding jail, police said.

He is suspected of mediating between Netanyahu and Elovitch and promoting regulatory changes worth millions to Bezeq. </s> Jerusalem: Israeli police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the first time in a corruption case that involves the country`s largest telecommunications company, Israel Radio said.

Along with two other corruption cases, in which Netanyahu is suspected of bribery, the probes announced in February pose a serious threat to the four-term prime minister`s political survival. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in all the cases.

In the newest investigation, known as Case 4000, police allege that the owners of Bezeq Israel Telecom provided favourable coverage of Netanyahu and his wife on a news website they controlled in return for favours from communications regulators.

A police spokesman declined comment on the report that the prime minister was questioned. A Reuters cameraman saw a vehicle carrying two police officers pull into the prime minister`s official residence on Friday morning.

Netanyahu`s wife Sara was also questioned at the same time as her husband, at a police station near Tel Aviv, her lawyer told Reuters. Sara Netanyahu`s interview took place under caution that she might be named as a suspect, the lawyer said.

Israeli media said the controlling shareholder of Bezeq Telecom, Shaul Elovitch, and Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu spokesman, were also being questioned. They are both in custody and have denied wrongdoing.

A representative for Elovitch had no immediate comment and Hefetz`s lawyer did not respond to a request for comment.

Shlomo Filber, a confidant of Netanyahu and former director general of the Communications Ministry, has also been arrested in connection with the case. Israeli media have reported that he has agreed to turn state`s witness.

About 70 protesters gathered outside the prime minister`s residence, demanding he step down.

"We want to see Netanyahu go to trial and, if needed, go to jail or go home. Let our people go free from all the corruption surrounding the government and the head of it," said Shimrit Orr, 72, a writer, from Tel Aviv.

Some cars beeped their horns in support as they drove by.

"A prime minister under investigation cannot, and may not, take crucial decisions,” said Shuki Cohen, 63, an economist from Moshav Arugot.

The rightwing prime minister has been Israel`s dominant political figure for a generation, in power since 2009 and for 12 years in total since 1996. He calls the allegations against him a "witch hunt" and has said he will seek a fifth term in an election due in late 2019.

Police recommended in February that Netanyahu be indicted in two other corruption investigations. The attorney-general must determine whether to accept the police recommendation to charge him. The final decision on both cases could take months.

In one, known as Case 1000, he is suspected of bribery over gifts, which police say were worth nearly $300,000, that he received from wealthy businessmen.

The other, Case 2000, involves an alleged plot to win positive coverage in Israel`s biggest newspaper by offering to take measures to curtail the circulation of a rival daily.

So far, partners in Netanyahu`s governing coalition have stood by him, saying they are awaiting the attorney-general`s next moves. Political analysts say such support could erode if the investigations against Netanyahu intensify.

Netanyahu could also call a snap election to try to stall legal proceedings during the campaign and rally his right-wing power base behind him.

Recent polls show that about half of Israelis believe the police over Netanyahu and think he should step down. A third think he should remain in office.
An Israel Police anti-corruption unit questions Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara.