Several cabinet members and coalition lawmakers called again for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial to end after judges recommended Monday that a bribery charge against the premier be dropped.

The judges’ suggestion to prosecutors came after Netanyahu concluded his lengthy testimony in the three related cases for which he is on trial, and repeats a recommendation the panel made three years ago. If prosecutors do ditch the bribery charge, Netanyahu will still face fraud and breach of trust charges in three cases, which concern allegations that he received illicit gifts and traded favors for positive press coverage.

But the judges’ statement injected new energy into calls by Netanyahu’s allies to end the trial altogether. Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting premier to be tried, denies all wrongdoing in the cases.

His supporters have long echoed his contention that the charges amount to a political witch hunt that has dragged on for too long. In a video statement on Monday, Justice Minister Yariv Levin claimed that the bribery charge was the “central” allegation that was “trumped up” against Netanyahu.

“The least that can be done now is to prevent this miscarriage of law and justice to continue,” Levin said. “To prevent Prime Minister Netanyahu from being dragged into more years of legal proceedings on marginal and unprecedented charges.”

He said the judges’ recommendation gave prosecutors a “last chance to salvage some part of the system’s honor,” and called for the premier to be pardoned or........

© The Times of Israel