Israeli Prime Ministers’ Struggles With Corruption: A Timeline
The state prosecutor recommended in 2004 that Mr. Sharon be indicted on bribery charges,
but the attorney general dropped the case, saying the evidence did not come "remotely close" to enough for a conviction.
The police recommended prosecuting him on charges of fraud and breach of trust,
but the country’s attorney general, Elyakim Rubinstein, decided in April not to press charges, for lack of evidence.
In September, he officially resigned as prime minister, a week after the police recommended
that he be indicted on charges of bribery, breach of public trust, money laundering and fraudulent receipt of goods.
1997 An Israeli reporter alleged that Mr. Netanyahu, during his first term as prime minister, had inappropriately
interfered with the appointment of an attorney general in order to reach a political deal.
2011 Mr. Netanyahu was accused by the state comptroller, Micha Lindenstrauss, of having the state
and other entities pay his travel expenses and those of his wife and sons while in between terms as prime minister.
This is not the first time Mr. Netanyahu has struggled with corruption investigations — he is sometimes referred to as Mr. Teflon
for the trouble the police have had getting accusations to stick — nor is he the first of the country’s prime ministers to do so.
