Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu indicted on corruption charges

Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel's Prime Minister, was today indicted on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. Haaretz reports that it ends a "dramatic political year" that has seen two indecisive general elections, after which both Netanyahu and his opposition failed to form governments.

Laying out the charges in a press conference, [Attorney General Avichai] Mendelblit said he made the decision to indict the prime minister "with a heavy heart, but wholeheartedly," stressing it was not an issue of left-wing or right-wing politics and that enforcing the law is not a matter of choice.

The attorney general lamented that "while conducting a professional hearing process, we've witnessed repeated attempts to delegitimize the people who were involved [in the investigations]. Those people acted out of proper motives.

The delegitimization "was meant to create the impression that any decision taken would be wrong. The investigations are based on broad-based evidence and testimony, which were professionally reviewed. No stone was left unturned," the attorney general said.