Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has slammed the police commissioner’s claims that he had assigned private detectives to spy on the investigators who were probing him in response to graft allegations as “ridiculous.”
"It is shocking to discover that the commissioner has repeated the mistaken and ridiculous suggestion that Prime Minister Netanyahu sent private investigators after the police who are investigating him," the Israeli Prime Minister said in a Facebook post.
The statement comes in the wake of the Monday interview of Roni Alsheich, a police commissioner, who said that Netanyahu tried to discredit the corruption probe by sending private detectives tasked to nose out dirt on investigators.
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Netanyahu is being probed for allegations that he accepted luxurious gifts, such as expensive cigars and champagne from wealthy supporters and made a secret deal with a newspaper publisher in order to get favorable coverage of his government’s work.
The corruption allegations have sparked a backlash across Israel, with people staging "Marches of Shame" in cities against reported corruption by Netanyahu. The Saturday poll by Hadashot TV news also showed that up to 60 percent of Israelis want the Prime Minister to step down if police recommend indicting Netanyahu.