Israel police to grill PM’s wife over graft allegations

By Turgut Alp Boyraz

JERUSALEM (AA) - The wife of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be questioned by police on Wednesday amid allegations of corruption, Israeli daily The Jerusalem Post has reported.

Sara Netanyahu stands accused of receiving “lavish and inappropriate” gifts from wealthy businessmen and paying bribes to a media mogul in return for favorable coverage.

Police have also launched a separate fraud investigation following accusations that Mrs. Netanyahu had dipped into state funds to make personal expenditures.

In January, the prime minister’s wife provided court testimony related to the first charge.

The Israeli government, meanwhile, has banned all media coverage of the ongoing police investigations.

The prime minister himself has also come under fire amid a raft of graft allegations and has been questioned by police on three separate occasions so far this year.

Vociferously denying the allegations, Netanyahu has accused certain Israeli media organizations of attempting to “overthrow” his Likud-led government.