THE ISRAELI Prime Minister, Mr Benjamin Netanyahu, has hired one of his country's leading criminal lawyers, apparently at his own expense, as the scandal over alleged illegalities relating to last month's appointment of a new attorney general threatens to engulf his administration.
Mr Netanyahu was questioned by Israeli police last Tuesday over the short lived appointment of Mr Ronnie Bar On as attorney general, and the initial impression was that he had co operated fully with his investigators.
However, a very different picture emerged over the weekend, with Hebrew media reports quoting police sources as stating the Prime Minister was evasive, that he said he could not remember precise details of events that took place barely a month ago, and that elements of his testimony contradicted evidence from other witnesses.
Frustrated by the lack of co operation, the three man police team took the unplanned step of cautioning the Prime Minister that he might face criminal charges over the affair.
Mr Netanyahu, who may now be questioned a second time by the police, has hired Mr Ya'acov Weinroth to represent him. Rejecting opposition calls for the Prime Minister to suspend himself from office, Mr Weinroth said last night he was sure that his client's innocence would be unequivocally established within a week.
Not all members of either Mr Netanyahu's coalition or the opposition seem quite so certain. The secretary general of the Labour Party, Mr Nissim Zvilli, was busy yesterday getting ready for the prospect of new elections.
At the heart of the affair is the allegation that Mr Bar On was appointed attorney general as a consequence of pressure exerted by Mr Aryeh Deri, the head of the ultra Orthodox Shas party. Mr Deri is involved in a corruption trial, and it is alleged that he had struck a deal under which Mr Bar On was to arrange a plea bargain for him.
Mr Deri's lawyer, Mr Dan Avi Yitzhak, a former candidate for the post of attorney general, angrily quit the Deri case last week, accusing his client of defaming him and claiming, in a parting letter, that Mr Deri had hatched "a programme" to ensure Mr Bar On got the attorney general's job.
The police probe, now into its fifth week, is seeking to establish whether there were illegalities in the Bar On appointment and, if so, who should be prosecuted. Two dozen witnesses have been questioned, including the Minister of Justice, Mr Tsahi Hanegbi, and Mr Netanyahu's chief aide, Mr Avigdor Lieberman.
The Prime Minister yesterday paid an official visit to Jordan, where discussions focused on his plans to build a new Jewish neighbourhood at Har Homa in east Jerusalem, plans furiously opposed by the Palestinians.
Despite that controversy, joked one Israeli columnist yesterday, it must have been nice for Mr Netanyahu to speak with King Hussein because, after all, there aren't many people left at home for him to talk to, with so many of his inner circle also being questioned over the Bar On affair.