DEJA VU: Netanyahu Holds Massive Rally To Denounce Lying Leftist Media As Behind Corruption Charges

Sound familiar? The Times Of Israel reports:

In a battling speech to thousands of supporters who gathered in Tel Aviv to support him on Wednesday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the left and the media of using ever-widening corruption investigations against him and his family to try to oust him from power in what he called “a coup against the government.”

“They don’t want to just take me down, they want to take us all down,” he told the partisan crowd of about 3,000 from his Likud party. “They know that they can’t beat us at the ballot boxes, so they are trying to circumvent democracy and topple us in other ways.”

Netanyahu clearly reveled in the support he got from the crowd, telling them: “Thank you for your support for me and my beloved wife Sara who has been with me all along. I love you all.” Netanyahu’s focus on the alleged illicit bid to oust him was expected, as it had been the main theme highlighted by the event’s organizers and among the participants before he arrived to speak. He stayed away from criticizing the police and justice system.

More from the Associated Press:



Former prime minister Ehud Barak, one of the targets of Netanyahu’s sniping, rebuffed Netanyahu’s comments saying “there’s no hunt, there’s corruption.”

Yair Lapid, a former finance minister under Netanyahu who heads the Yesh Atid party, tweeted after the prime minister’s speech that it “crossed every line.” “What we saw this evening wasn’t a rally of support for Netanyahu but a rally in support of corruption,” Lapid said.

Likud leaders put heavy pressure on party activists to attend the rally. The gathering had a festive atmosphere, with activists hoisting Israeli flags, banners criticizing the media and chanting “Bibi, King of Israel,” using his nickname.

Netanyahu, the second-longest serving leader in Israeli history, is engulfed in a series of scandals relating to alleged financial misdeeds and supposed illicit ties to executives in media, international business and Hollywood.