Police question Sharon in bribery scandal

Police questioned Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon on Thursday about a bribery scandal that might lead to criminal charges against him and spark a political crisis further distracting from Middle East peacemaking.

A businessman friend was charged last month with trying to bribe Sharon in the 1990s. Prosecutors have said they should decide within months whether to indict the prime minister too -- a move many analysts believe would force him from office.

Some critics have suggested that Sharon's shock announcement this week of a plan to get settlers out of the Gaza Strip might aim to divert attention from the scandal, a notion the prime minister -- a champion of settlement-building -- has denied.

Commentators said the case could weaken the 75-year-old Israeli leader's hand in any talks with the Palestinians on reviving a U.S.-backed peace "road map" stalled by violence.

Prosecutors said indicted businessman David Appel hired Sharon's son Gilad in 1999 and paid him large sums to persuade his father, then foreign minister, to promote real estate deals including a Greek island resort that was never built.

The indictment against Appel, who has denied the charges, did not cite any evidence that Sharon knowingly accepted political favors. Sharon also has denied any wrongdoing.

Police questioned the prime minister at his official residence in Jerusalem, though few analysts expected any immediate  dramatic development in the case. He last met police investigators in October.

Sharon, leader of the right-wing Likud party, has rejected opposition calls to resign over the affair, vowing to stay in office at least until the next election in 2007.

Referendum
On Wednesday, Sharon said he was prepared to hold a referendum before carrying out his plans to dismantle 17 of the 21 Jewish enclaves in the Gaza Strip where 7,500 Jews live amid 1.3 million Palestinians.

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

For Subscribers

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAmerican passenger drafted goodbye texts to her family as Flydubai plane plummeted

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation pushes embattled New York prosecutor into national spotlight

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAbdul El-Sayed tries to woo MAHA voters as Democrats seek inroads with RFK’s supporters

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKratom-like substances are popping up in a typically benign supplement

FOR SUBSCRIBERSGOP super PAC increases its spending for Sen. Jon Husted in tough Ohio race

FOR SUBSCRIBERSRecords reveal tumultuous marriage between slain New York Times executive and wife

FOR SUBSCRIBERSFrom clean energy warrior to ‘wall of shame,’ James Talarico reverses on a fossil fuel money pledge

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCongressional staff planned official trip with luxury stops in Italy and France weeks before election

FOR SUBSCRIBERSA harrowing ordeal aboard an Israel-bound plane

FOR SUBSCRIBERSOpenAI CEO Sam Altman to skip congressional hearing on rogue AI agents

FOR SUBSCRIBERSKey DOJ lawyers departed Trump ‘grand conspiracy’ probe amid pressure to produce, source says

FOR SUBSCRIBERSTrump’s new AI chatbot often links to a site launched under Clinton 26 years ago

FOR SUBSCRIBERSAt MAHA summit, industry CEOs the movement once vilified take the stage

FOR SUBSCRIBERSThis Paralympian has two goals: Win medals and give away $500,000 to her teammates

FOR SUBSCRIBERSCornell rape allegation spotlights stringent New York state laws that have long drawn criticism

Polls show most Israelis favor scrapping Jewish enclaves exposed to a Palestinian uprising, both in Gaza and the West Bank, where Sharon plans to leave most settlements alone.

In Gaza, a militant group, the Democratic Front for the Liberation of Palestine, said one of its fighters was killed during an attack on an Israeli convoy late on Wednesday. The Israeli army had no immediate comment.

Sharon was quoted as saying that the Gaza plan was presented not "because of, but despite" the probe in comments reported by the Web site of the top-selling newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.

Boosting Sharon from the political right, Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz praised the plan. "Evacuating the Strip promises to afford Israel's citizens greater security than they have today," the former military chief of staff told Yedioth on Thursday.

In Washington, a U.S. official said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell was due to meet Israeli Deputy Prime Minister Ehud Olmert on Thursday for talks on Israeli plans to close Gaza settlements as well as on the tattered road map.