JERUSALEM – Israeli police arrested a number of suspects connected to amajor communication company on Sunday, in what media said was a newcorruption probe linked to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Al ArabiyaEnglish has reported.
The suspects included “senior figures” in the Bezeq communications groupwho were detained as part of a new joint investigation including the IsraelSecurities Authority, a police statement said without giving more details.
Israeli media said they were suspected of having been involved in an affairin which Bezeq received concessions, in return for which Netanyahu receivedpositive coverage on the Bezeq-affiliated news website Walla.
The arrests came just days after police said there were grounds to indictNetanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of public trust, in the biggestchallenge yet to the right-wing premier’s long tenure in power.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the allegations, which he says arepolitically motivated, and has rejected calls to step down.
Police believe Netanyahu sought a secret deal for favorable coverage withthe publisher of top-selling newspaper Yediot Aharonot, whose publisherArnon Moses could also face bribery charges.
The attorney general must now decide how to move forward with the policerecommendations, a process that could take months.