Merav Lapidot
Photo: Lior Paz
Police spokeswoman: No difficulty coordinating time with PM for questioning
Police Spokeswoman Lapidot rejects reports that the PMO was 'stalling for time' when asked to set date for investigators to question Netanyahu; 'We need to remember that the prime minister is a busy man with a country to run,' she says.
Police Spokeswoman Merav Lapidot rejected on Wednesday reports that the Prime Minister's Office was "stalling for time" when asked to set a date for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be questioned by police.
"We have no difficulty in coordinating a date with the prime minister for questioning. We work in full cooperation with his office and coordinate a timetable," Lapidot said in an interview with Ynet's studio.
Ynet reported earlier this week that police investigators have grown tired of waiting for the Prime Minister's Office to coordinate a date for them to question Netanyahu, making it clear that if the PMO doesn't set a date, they will.
Prime Minister Netanyahu (Photo: Koby Gideon/GPO)
"We need to remember that the prime minister is a busy man with a country to run, and we're aware of this," Lapidot said. "The investigators will arrive at the prime minister's residence at a time coordinated with him. We've done it before, and we will do it again soon. He needs to provide his version."
Netanyahu has accused the police of a "tsunami of leaks" from the two criminal investigations currently being conducted against him.
"Just like any other person, it is the prime minister's right to think what he thinks. At the end of the day, I think he has a lot of trust in law enforcement authorities. I didn't come across other comments (to the contrary)," Lapidot asserted.
She stressed that "We don't talk about investigations to the media. We make a great effort to maintain the purity of the investigation and to ensure the information from the investigations and the way in which they're conducted remain in the investigation rooms."
Police Spokeswoman Merav Lapidot (Photo: Nitzan Dror)
"The Israel Police has been doing serious and substantial work over the past year and a half to prevent leaks in every way possible," Lapidot added. "We think it is improper and unethical."
Explaining how information from the investigations did make it to the media, Lapidot noted, "You have to remember the police are not the only one to see the investigation material. There are over 200 suspects, people who provided testimony and are involved in one way or another in the investigations.
"Suspects consult with their attorneys; some of the lawyer could also leak some of the information. The prosecution, the attorney general, many other associates of the suspects themselves—there's a whole group of people with ties to the investigation."
She added that "We see all sorts of things being reported in the media, which reportedly came out of the investigation rooms, and we know they have no shred of truth in them. They're just media spins."
