Opposition lawmakers and media pundits lambasted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday evening for putting on an "election show," after what he had promised would be a "dramatic announcement" turned out to be a complaint that police refused to let him confront state witnesses in the corruption cases against him.
In the live statement on prime time television, Netanyahu demanded that police allow him to face the state witnesses who have testified against him in the 3 graft cases in which he is a suspect.
Netanyahu's Likud party sent out a statement at 5 p.m. yesterday promising a "dramatic announcement," at 8 p.m. and all of Israel's main news channels devoted the top of their prime time broadcasts to his statement.
But as Netanyahu began speaking, after 3 hours of feverish speculation over what the dramatic announcement could be, it quickly turned to annoyance over what critics saw as little more than a campaign speech, with no drama in sight.
While other news channels stuck with Netanyahu for the statement, which lasted several minutes, Channel 10 news cut away from Netanyahu's announcement mid-speech and moved on to other stories.
Opposition Leader Shelly Yachimovich said she would ask the Central Elections Committee, which regulates electioneering, to prevent similar future incidents.
"We witnessed a cynical and lame election show by someone who tries with all his might to escape justice," she said."It is a blatant and coarse intervention by Netanyahu in his legal case, while creating a fake drama out of nothing and taking over screen time like a dictator," she charged.
Labor chief Avi Gabay said ""In a normal country, a prime minister does not behave this way," Gabbay said. "In a normal country, the prime minister does not attack the law enforcement authorities. Instead of dealing with the security of the residents of the south, the cost of living, or the health system collapsing, Netanyahu is busy rescuing himself from the investigations."
Tzipi Livni said the speech was "another transparent attempt to delay justice in a hysterical, victim-like attack on law enforcement bodies for personal needs.""Instead of watching Netanyahu's shows, we need to fight to save Israel from Netanyahu," she said.
Pundits in Hebrew-language media were similarly unimpressed with Netanyahu's speech, with many complaining that the supposed dramatic announcement had contained no drama.
"This wasn't a dramatic announcement - it was hutzpah on live TV," Channel 10 reporter Barak Ravid wrote on Twitter.
Netanyahu "is behaving as if he is in a reality show," Hadashot news reporter Guy Peleg noted.
Even right-wing pundit Avishai Grinzaig said in a tweet that "the prime minister is unfortunately talking nonsense. There is no reserved right to confront state witnesses during a police investigation. That decision can only be made by the investigation team. In court, Netanyahu can confront the state witnesses during the cross examination as much as he wants."
Speaking from a podium at the Prime Minister's Residence in Jerusalem, Netanyahu said earlier Monday that his requests to confront state's witnesses in the graft probes against him had been refused.
The state's witnesses in the Netanyahu probes are his former chief of staff, Ari Harow; Nir Hefetz, a former media adviser to the Netanyahu family; and Shlomo Filber, the former Communications Ministry director general.
https://www.timesofisrael.com/netanyahu-lambasted-as-tv-drama-fizzles-into-lame-election-show/
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Photos: Netanyahu during his live "dramatic announcment" yesterday, and opposition lawmakers Shelly Yachimovich, Yair Laid and Tzipi Livni
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