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Scandals highlight leader's media obsession

Published:Monday | February 19, 2018 | 12:00 AM
In this January 25, 2018 file photo, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, speaks to journalists during the annual meeting of the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

JERUSALEM (AP):

Benjamin Netanyahu traces his meteoric rise in Israeli politics to his days as a telegenic media star who dazzled audiences in both English and Hebrew. But he has also had a rocky relationship with Israel's notoriously aggressive media, often accusing it of carrying out a "witch hunt" against him.

If the myriad of corruption charges plaguing the longtime Israeli leader ultimately force him from office, his obsession with trying to control a media that refused to coddle him could well be to blame.