Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at the country's law enforcement system on Tuesday, in response to a report by Channel 12 TV on Monday alleging that police covered up a conflict of interest involving one of its senior investigators who was looking into alleged crimes committed by Netanyahu and his wife Sara.
Speaking at an event meant to be focused on Israel's struggling battle against the coronavirus, Netanyahu was asked about the report and devoted a chunk of his time accusing the police of conspiring to oust him.
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"The entire chain of command is involved: senior investigators, the chief of police, the state attorney, and everything is sanctioned and authorized by the attorney general," Netanyahu said. "This was not an investigation. This is a corrupt political conspiracy to topple a prime minister."
To highlight his point about police wrongdoing, Netanyahu addressed another media report claiming the former state prosecutor did not pursue an investigation into a case of alleged police misconduct. The case surrounded the fatal shooting of a Bedouin Israeli man in 2017 out of fears it would tarnish the image of law enforcement amid its investigations into Netanyahu.
Police shot Yacoub Abu al-Kiyan, claiming he had intentionally rammed his car into police who were carrying out a demolition in his village. His family disputes the police claims.
The incident also resulted in the death of police officer Erez Levi.
On Tuesday, Netanyahu apologized for the killing and for al-Kiyan being wrongly labeled a terrorist, which he said is what he was told by police at the time.
"There are political investigations here that were polluted from the start," the premier, who faces trial on corruption charges, said.
"'Fixing' cases when the goal is to oust an incumbent prime minister. We saw [Monday] that investigations are being buried, covered up, while covering for each other and all for a political purpose," Netanyahu lambasted, referring to law enforcement officers.
"Yesterday [Monday] it became clear that [al-Kiyan] was not a terrorist," Netanyahu asserted. "Yesterday it became clear that senior prosecutors and police figures had turned him into a terrorist in order to defend themselves and harm me."
Channel 12's report revealed an email sent by then-State Attorney Shai Nitzan, striking down a request to conduct an inquiry into the incident due to "state interests."
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As for the night-time curfew imposed on dozens of cities and communities across Israel due to the pandemic, Netanyahu stressed new measures will be discussed during the corona cabinet meeting on Thursday, ahead of the upcoming Jewish holidays.
He further commented that "transferring more powers to the communities to take more specific decisions" will be more effective in the battle against the spread of the virus.
