Police Commissioner Assaf Hefetz said a three-month probe of influence-trading charges turned up sufficent "evidence to indict the prime minister on charges of fraud and breach of trust." He did not specify which alleged acts formed the basis for those charges and cautioned that "problems with this evidence" raise questions whether it "will stand up to a legal critique."
Investigators have centered their inquiry on the appointment last January of Roni Bar-On, a little-known criminal lawyer, as attorney general. Shas Party leader Arye Deri, who controls 10 of 66 votes in Netanyahu's governing coalition, is alleged to have demanded Bar-On's appointment in expectation of lenience in his own ongoing felony trial. Several members of the cabinet, which was required to confirm Bar-On's appointment, complained that Netanyahu rushed their decision and that Justice Minister Tsahi Hanegby misrepresented Bar-On's qualifications.
Poitier, 70, wore a tuxedo and smiled broadly during the ceremony.
Born in the United States but a citizen of the Bahamas, Poitier was appointed as the Caribbean island's Japanese ambassador in November 1995. A Japanese official said the lengthy delay between his appointment and yesterday's ceremony was caused by the lack of a Bahamian embassy in Tokyo.