Amsalem: Getting cigars from a friend is not corruption
Newly-appointed coalition chairman allows that 'a prime minister who is indicted for corruption cannot be a prime minister,' but argues 'a prime minister should not be under investigation over champagne and cigars.'
Amsalem replaced as coalition chairman MK David Bitan, who is under investigation for suspected corruption himself.
Speaking at a Bar Association conference in Eilat, Amsalem said he hated "corrupted people, thieves and crooks – and those who belong in this category should not be leading the public," but stressed "a prime minister should not be under investigation over champagne and cigars. It's a slippery slope. Maybe tomorrow we'll arrest a prime minister who received a box of chocolates?"
The new coalition head asserted the police will in fact recommend filing an indictment against Netanyahu. "The police have no choice, they are already well on their way. They'll recommend an indictment," Amsalem said.
He later clarified on Twitter that he did not think the allegations against Netanyahu - of receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors - constitute corruption, noting "A corruption indictment in this case is not relevant to Netanyahu at all."
Earlier this week, Netanyahu attacked the police, saying that "the majority of the recommendations made by the police are thrown to the garbage."
Continuing his tirade, he said that a fact that was likely unknown to the public was that the “vast majority of the police recommendations end with nothing. I am talking about recommendations against thousands of citizens and public figures, ministers, MKs. It begins in the headlines and explodes and most of the time it ends with nothing.”
Netanyahu went on to say that "meanwhile, something happens - these people's lives are ruined. Their blood is being spilled. Their good name tarnished."
Amsalem said Saturday he doesn't "think the Israel Police is making things up... the country is important to me no less than it is to the police commissioner, the attorney general and the Supreme Court justices. If we don't have a strong police force, we don't have a society."
He said the controversial recommendations bill, which seeks to bar police from making public their recommendations on indictment, "was brought to the Knesset two years," rejecting claims the legislation was tailor-made for Netanyahu: "the media and politics are a world of lies."
Amsalem argued that "the State Attorney's Office closes close to 80 percent of cases, and until then, great damage is done to people." Amsalem also remarked on the weekly protests against government corruption, saying "They say we're corrupted, what do they mean?"
