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In Israel, longtime Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has been struggling to hold onto his job for months. Now, in a historic development, he faces indictments¹ for bribery², fraud and breach³ of trust. Israel's attorney general announced the charges today. Netanyahu says they are cooked up by political opponents. They allege⁴ a range of illegal acts, from giving a regulatory break to a telecom company in exchange for good press coverage⁵ to accepting free cigars and champagne⁶.

NPR's Daniel Estrin joins us from Tel Aviv. Hi, Daniel.

DANIEL ESTRIN, BYLINE⁷: Hi, Ari.

SHAPIRO: What specifically did the attorney general say Netanyahu has done to break the law here?

ESTRIN: Well, there are a range of charges. The most serious one is bribery. The charge is that Netanyahu gave very lucrative⁸ regulatory favors to a telecommunications company and, in exchange, the company's news website gave Netanyahu positive coverage, which, according to the attorney general, Netanyahu saw as crucial to his political future.

And Netanyahu was also accused of speaking with a newspaper publisher — a different one — about a deal to get favorable coverage in exchange for helping⁹ that publisher undercut his competitor — and also that Netanyahu and his family got cigars and champagne from a Hollywood mogul and Netanyahu — repaid them in favors.

SHAPIRO: As we said, Netanyahu denies these charges. What more did he say when he addressed the country about it?

ESTRIN: Well, he was on TV. And he, at first, looked quite shaken up. But he gained confidence, and here's what he sounded like.

(SOUNDBITE OF ARCHIVED RECORDING)

PRIME MINISTER BENJAMIN NETANYAHU: (Speaking Hebrew).

ESTRIN: He said, "I'm not going to let the lie win." He said the investigation¹⁰ into him was tainted¹¹. He used that word repeatedly. He said this is an attempt to topple him from power. He didn't address most of the charges directly. But specifically about the charge about him seeking positive press, he said, "I'm the prime minister with the worst Israeli press coverage in history." And he vowed¹² to continue leading the country.

SHAPIRO: That does sound like a familiar line — worse press coverage in history — from a world leader. Can he actually stay in power while he fights these charges?

ESTRIN: Well, there's no law that automatically forces Netanyahu out of office. Right now he has a 30-day period. He can try to seek immunity¹³ from prosecution¹⁴, but there will be legal challenges over that and over whether he can even stay prime minister. This corruption¹⁵ case now could take years to prosecute¹⁶. What you have to recognize now is that they're — we're in a remarkable¹⁷ political situation here in Israel. It's...

SHAPIRO: Right. I was just going to say...

ESTRIN: Israel...

SHAPIRO: ...There have been two massive elections, neither one of them conclusive¹⁸. Israel was already facing a third. So what does this mean?

ESTRIN: Right. Well, you know, every time that Israel's had elections this year, Netanyahu couldn't form a government, and his opponent couldn't either. And so now we could be looking at a third election in March. And you see that as these allegations have mounted over the last few years, every time Israel had an election, Netanyahu, in the past, won elections very easily — now not so much.

So his political allies who have stood by him this whole time, the question is whether they're going to stand by him now — now that he's facing a very serious bribery charge. So we're going to look to see if his political partners stick with him. And we may already be seeing the first cracks because one member of his party says he wants to challenge Netanyahu in a party primary.

SHAPIRO: Has there been any response today from Benny Gantz, his opponent who basically tied with him in the last election?

ESTRIN: Yes. Benny Gantz is calling on him to resign and saying that he cannot maintain office and that it's — it would be immoral¹⁹ for him to do so. And what's interesting is that Gantz, too, was not able to form a government. And so now we're in an unprecedented²⁰ moment the country hasn't seen before and unclear who is going to take charge of the country.

SHAPIRO: Lots to talk about but probably not much getting done in the halls of government right now, I would imagine.

NPR's Daniel Estrin in Tel Aviv, Israel. Thanks a lot.

ESTRIN: You're welcome.

数个月以来，以色列长期执政的总理本杰明·内塔尼亚胡一直在努力保住总理之位。现在出现了历史性发展，他遭指控受贿、欺诈和违反信托。今天，以色列总检察长宣布了对总理的指控。内塔尼亚胡表示，这些罪名是政治对手捏造的。他们指控总理存在一系列违法行为，包括为一家电信企业开监管绿灯以换取正面的新闻报道，以及接受免费的雪茄和香槟。

NPR新闻的丹尼尔·埃斯特林将从特拉维夫和我们连线。你好，丹尼尔。

丹尼尔·埃斯特林连线：你好，阿里。

夏皮罗：就内塔尼亚胡的违法行为而言，总检察长具体说了什么？

埃斯特林：总检察长宣布了一系列指控。最严重的是受贿。指控称，内塔尼亚胡为一家电信公司提供了丰厚的监管优惠，以换取该公司的网站对内塔尼亚胡进行正面报道，总检察长说，内塔尼亚胡认为这对他的政治前程来说至关重要。

内塔尼亚胡还被控与另一家报纸出版商讨论一项协议，旨在以帮助该出版商打压竞争对手来换取有利的报道，另外，内塔尼亚胡及其家人接受了一名好莱坞大亨赠送的雪茄和香槟，作为回报，他们向对方提供了多种便利。

夏皮罗：我们刚才提到，内塔尼亚胡否认所有指控。他在发表全国讲话时还说了什么？

埃斯特林：他在电视上发表了讲话。一开始，他看上去有些不安。不过随后他重拾自信，下面是他在讲话中所说。

（录音档案）

本杰明·内塔尼亚胡总理：（用希伯来语讲话）。

埃斯特林：他说：“我不会让谎言获胜。”他说，针对他的调查已经变质。他在讲话中多次提到这个词。他表示，这是企图将他赶下台。他并没有直接提及大部分指控。但他提到了称他寻求积极报道的指控，他说：“我是得到以色列史上最糟糕新闻报道的总理。”他誓要继续领导以色列。

夏皮罗：这句话听起来很耳熟，一名世界领导人说“史上最糟糕的新闻报道”。在应对这些指控期间，他还能继续执政吗？

埃斯特林：没有法律规定内塔尼亚胡必须自动离职。现在他有30天的时间。他可以在30天内寻求检方的豁免权，但这会引发法律挑战，另外，他是否能继续担任总理也将面临法律挑战。这起腐败案可能会审理数年。现在，必须认识到的是，以色列正处于引人注目的政治局面中。

夏皮罗：好。我正要说……

埃斯特林：以色列……

夏皮罗：以色列举行了两次选举，但都没有决定性结果。以色列已经准备举行第三次选举。这意味着什么？

埃斯特林：好。今年以色列每次举行选举，内塔尼亚胡都未能成功组建政府，他的对手同样组阁失败。因此，我们可能会在明年3月看到以色列举行第三次选举。以前每次以色列举行选举，内塔尼亚胡都能轻松获胜，但随着这些指控在过去几年甚嚣尘上，现在内塔尼亚胡不能那么轻松地获胜了。

他的政治盟友一直支持他，但问题是，现在他面临着极为严重的受贿指控，那这些盟友还会支持他吗？因此我们要关注一下他的政治伙伴是否会继续支持他。我们可能已经看到了裂痕的出现，因为内塔尼亚胡所在政党的一名成员想在党内初选中挑战他。

夏皮罗：本尼·甘茨是内塔尼亚胡的对手，二人在上次选举中的成绩几乎不相上下，那甘茨今天有没有发表看法？

埃斯特林：有。本尼·甘茨要求内塔尼亚胡辞职，他认为后者无法继续执政，如果继续执政就是不道德的行为。值得注意的是，甘茨也未能成功组建政府。因此，这是一个前所未有的情况，以色列从未经历过这种局面，目前并不清楚谁会执掌国家大权。

夏皮罗：我能想象，有很多需要讨论，但可能政府目前无法采取太多举措。

以上是NPR新闻的丹尼尔·埃斯特林从特拉维夫带来的报道。非常谢谢你。

埃斯特林：不客气。