Israel's Attorney-General announced today that he has decided to indict Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelbent said he had informed Netanyahu's attorney that he had ordered "several criminal charges committed during his term as prime minister and minister of communications in files known as File 1000, File 2000 and File 4000."
Mandelbent said he wanted to hold a hearing for the prime minister, where Netanyahu would have a chance to defend himself before the charges were filed.
The announcement comes ahead of the April 9 Knesset elections, in which Netanyahu faces a tough challenge from a centrist political coalition headed by respected former military chief Benny Gantz.
"This is political persecution," the ruling right-wing Likud party said in a statement. "The unilateral publication of the prosecutor's declaration a month before the elections, without giving the prime minister an opportunity to refute these false accusations, is a blatant and unprecedented intervention in the elections," he said.