Netanyahu Is Haunted by Cigars, Bubbly, and Subs

The spectacle of prominent political figures being hauled before police investigators has become a ritual of sorts in Israel. It happened to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s three predecessors—one, Ehud Olmert, spent 16 months in prison for corruption before being released on parole in July. A president served time for rape, and numerous cabinet ministers, lawmakers, and local officials have been indicted—and some jailed—over financial shenanigans.

But never before has an Israeli leader faced such a tangle of suspicions regarding events on his watch. There are the allegations that Netanyahu held backroom talks with a media baron, trying to negotiate favorable coverage. That the prime minister and his wife accepted cases of expensive Champagne and boxes of Cuban cigars from a billionaire Hollywood producer. And that cash-filled envelopes traded hands to grease a $1.8 billion submarine deal.