Israel's former prime minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, and his wife, Sara, were yesterday questioned for more than five hours by investigators from the police fraud squad, over allegations that they accepted free private cleaning, house moving and repair services from a Jerusalem contractor and then tried to bill the state for the work.
Israel TV reported last night that Mr Netanyahu was suspected of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of promise. The couple deny any improper behaviour.
The contractor, Mr Avner Amedi, was arrested on Tuesday, on suspicion of fraud. His lawyer said yesterday that the charges against him were groundless.
Mr Netanyahu, who has largely avoided the spotlight since he was defeated by Mr Ehud Barak in a general election in May, was summoned for questioning after publication of the allegations against him in the top-selling tabloid daily, Yediot Ahronot.
According to media reports, he and his wife were taken to separate rooms for questioning and cautioned. They were kept at the fraud squad headquarters through out yesterday afternoon and into the evening. A leading aide to Mr Netanyahu, Mr Uri Elitzur, was also questioned. Outside, die-hard supporters chanted the former prime minister's name and waved stickers proclaiming "Netanyahu, we will love you forever". The affair revolves around services provided for the couple, throughout the three years of Mr Netanyahu's premiership, by Mr Amedi. According to the media reports, Mr Amedi served as a personal fixer for the couple; carrying out repairs at their homes, helping them shift belongings from one home to another, in once case polishing the floors at their private flat four times in a single month.
Mr Netanyahu, it is alleged, never paid for any of these services. But after he lost the election, Mr Amedi submitted a bill for 440,000 shekels (£75,000). And during the transition period after his defeat, the Yediot newspaper alleges, Mr Netanyahu "sought in vain to extract hundreds of thousands of shekels from the state" to pay for the services that Mr Amedi had rendered. When prime minister, Mr Netanyahu claimed repeatedly that the media were biased against him and bent on bringing him down.
During his years in office, he narrowly escaped indictment over the short-lived appointment of a low-ranking member of his Likud party as the country's attorney-general, and was questioned by police over two other affairs.
Before appearing for questioning yesterday, Mr Netanyahu consulted at least two lawyers, and issued a statement denying any improper conduct, asserting that he regarded Mr Amedi's bill as inflated and that his wife had pointed this out to officials at the Prime Minister's Office.
Mr Elitzur said the repair and cleaning work had all been carried out at Mr Netanyahu's office, but he was contradicted by the legal adviser at the Prime Minister's Office, who said Mr Amedi provided services at the Netanyahus' private residences as well.