Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit filed filed an indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on three separate charges of corruption. The move came three hours after the prime minister withdrew his request for parliamentary immunity from prosecution for bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu, who was visiting Washington ahead of the launch of President Donald Trump’s long-anticipated peace plan, said he “decided not to let this dirty game continue,” in a statement issued on his official Facebook page. The Knesset was widely expected to reject Netanyahu’s immunity request, which would have dealt a massive blow to the prime minister ahead of the March 2 parliamentary elections — the third in less than a year. Netanyahu’s Likud party was planning to boycott Tuesday’s Knesset session. Netanyahu’s retraction paves the way for legal proceedings against him to go forward. He was indicted on counts of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in November in three separate cases. He has denied any wrongdoing. Shortly after Netanyahu retracted his request for immunity, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit formally submitted the indictments against the prime minister to the Jerusalem District Court. “In this fateful hour for the people of Israel, when I am in the United States on a historic mission to design the permanent borders of Israel and ensure our security for decades to come, the Knesset is expected to start another spectacle in the circus of removing immunity,” Netanyahu wrote. Netanyahu’s chief political opponent, Benny Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, said in a statement that “Netanyahu is going to trial — we must go forward.” “Nobody could run a country and simultaneously manage three serious criminal charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust,” Gantz added. Netanyahu and Gantz are set to face off in a third round of national elections after two inconclusive elections in 2019. Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, seeks a fourth consecutive term in office, but failed to form a governing coalition after April and September’s elections. (AP)

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