Israel's Attorney General 'orders criminal investigation' against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

It comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry launched a blistering attack on Israel tonight

BYJACK BLANCHARDDAN BLOOM- 28 DEC 2016

Israel's Attorney General has ordered a criminal investigation against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, it has been reported.

The claims, from Israel's Channel 10, come the day after reports Netanyahu would be facing a probe into charges of bribery and fraud.

The Independent reports police have been looking into the allegations for almost nine months.

A Justice Ministry spokeswoman declined to respond to the report.

Benjamin Netanyahu says he looks forward to working with Donald Trump

Netanyahu has in the past denied wrongdoing in the purchase of submarines from Germany, where media have reported a potential conflict of interest involving his lawyer.

The Channel 10 report said one of the two cases that Attorney-General Avihai Mandelblit had been examining was not known to the public.

The announcement comes after US Secretary of State John Kerry launched a blistering attack on Israel tonight as he warned there will never be peace in the Middle East without a Palestinian state.

In an outspoken speech given less than four weeks before he leaves office, President Obama’s foreign minister urged Israel to accept a two-state solution.

"If Israel goes down the one-state path it will never have peace with the Arab world - and I can say that with certainty," Mr Kerry said.

Kerry insisted the US "did vote with our values" by not blocking the UN resolution (Photo: Getty)

Hours earlier President-Elect Donald Trump had fired a warning shot across Secretary Kerry’s bows with a series of angry tweets urging Israel to “stay strong” in the face of US hostility.

Mr Trump was referring to the West’s controversial deal with Iran to end its nuclear weapons programme in return for lifting economic sanctions – fiercely opposed by Israel.

And Mr Trump slammed last Friday’s dramatic United Nations motion condemning Israeli settlements in Palestinian territory, on which the US abstained.

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Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the U.S., but.......

9:19 AM - 28 Dec 2016

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Donald J. Trump

✔@realDonaldTrump

not anymore. The beginning of the end was the horrible Iran deal, and now this (U.N.)! Stay strong Israel, January 20th is fast approaching!

9:25 AM - 28 Dec 2016

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Benjamin Netanyahu

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President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel! @IvankaTrump@DonaldJTrumpJr https://twitter.com/realdonaldtrump/status/814114980983427073 …

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Mr Trump wrote: “We cannot continue to let Israel be treated with such total disdain and disrespect. They used to have a great friend in the US, but not anymore."

His tweet was warmly welcomed by Israel’s right-wing Netanyahu, who wrote back: “President-elect Trump, thank you for your warm friendship and your clear-cut support for Israel!”

But tonight – in what was an extraordinary outburst towards one of America’s long-standing allies - a fuming Mr Kerry accused Netanyahu of building a coalition which is “the most right-wing in Israeli history, with an agenda driven by the most extreme elements”.

And he insisted the US “did vote with our values” by deciding not to block the UN resolution.

He added: “Friends need to tell each other the hard truths" (Photo: REUTERS)

“If the choice is one state, Israel can either be Jewish or democratic,” Mr Kerry said. “It cannot be both.”

Mr Kerry also criticised Palestinian leaders' "incitement" of violence, acknowledging there were two sides to the argument.

And he stressed the US had been among Israel's greatest international allies.

But in a message aimed directly at the Israeli Government, he went on: “Let’s be clear: settlement expansion has nothing to do with Israel’s security.

"Many settlements actually increase the security burden on the Israeli defence forces.

“Some seem to believe that the US friendship means the US must accept any policy, regardless of our own interests, our own positions, our own words, our own principles - even after urging again and again that the policy must change.

“Friends need to tell each other the hard truths.”

Palestinians and an Israeli soldiers in a dispute over territory on the West Bank (Photo: Getty)

He said some forces were "motivated by ideological elements" without regard for the Palestinian people and some settler outposts were “illegal under Israel’s own laws”.

In a pointed dig at Mr Trump, he urged leaders to "save the two state solution while there is still time".

And he said: "We cannot properly defend and protect Israel if we allow a viable two state solution to be destroyed before our own eyes.

"The vote in the UN was about preserving the two state solution. That was what we were standing up for."

Concluding his speech Mr Kerry said: "Is ours the generation that gives up the dream of the Jewish democratic state of Israel living in peace with its neighbours? Because that is what is at stake."