Netanyahu blasts corruption charges as left-wing 'conspiracy'

JERUSALEM - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Thursday blasted the decision by the attorney general to charge him with corruption as a left-wing "conspiracy."

In a televised speech, Netanyahu started an all-out war against Israel's justice system, including the State Prosecutor's office and the police.

The charges of bribery and breach of trust announced by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit are based on "absurd and evil plots," he said.

He also accused the left-wing of "carrying out the political witch-hunt" in order to topple the right-wing government and "put in power the left-wing party of Lapid and Benny."

The allegations are "baseless" as Mandelblit was under "heavy pressures" to indict, the Israeli prime minister highlighted.

Benny Gantz, Israel's former Chief of the General Staff, and Yair Lapid, former Israeli finance minister, co-lead the centrist party of Blue and White in a tight race against Netanyahu's ruling coalition for the April 9 elections.

Meanwhile, Gantz called on Netanyahu to resign.

"I won't sit in a coalition with Benjamin Netanyahu," he told a press conference in Tel Aviv.

"Benjamin Netanyahu, I appeal to you from here tonight: Show national responsibility, and resign from your position" as "you chose your own benefit over the country," Gantz said.

He called the announcement of the possible indictment, which marks the first time an incumbent prime minister in Israel might face charges, a "sad day" for Israel.

Earlier in the day, Mandelblit announced his intention to indict Netanyahu for taking bribery on three counts of breach of trust in three separate criminal cases.

Netanyahu will be summoned for a hearing before the final decision on the indictment, he said, adding that a date for the hearing has yet to be scheduled.

The decision, published at the peak of Israel's election campaign as Netanyahu is seeking a fifth term, concluded more than two years of intense investigations and deliberations.

Netanyahu's Likud party fears the potential indictment might cost it 2 to 5 mandates, which are much needed in its close race against Gantz.