That evening, a recording surfaced of Benjamin Netanyahu’s son Yair partying in strip clubs and making lewd jokes. It produced a scandal. The prime minister was forced to respond, of course, to this affair. No doubt, it was a distraction — and from something important: According to reports, the same night the younger Netanyahu was exposed as an imbecile, the Israeli air force was attacking Syrian military installations, the kind of attack that most likely requires the prime minister’s authorization — and his attention.
.. The prime minister is under investigation for corruption.
.. when Ehud Olmert, Mr. Netanyahu’s predecessor as prime minister, was in legal trouble. “No place of work — surely not the prime minister’s office — can afford a manager who spends most of his time consulting with his attorneys,”
.. He is suspected of illegally receiving gifts; he is suspected of negotiating a deal with a newspaper magnate in exchange for favorable coverage. His closest aides were investigated in connection with a corruption scandalconcerning the purchase of submarines from Germany.
.. All of our recent prime ministers faced criminal investigation:
- Mr. Netanyahu, during his first spell in office in the mid-1990s,
- followed by Ehud Barak,
- followed by Ariel Sharon,
- followed by Ehud Olmert.