JERUSALEM, Oct. 15 (Xinhua) -- Israel's political arena was in uproar on Sunday after Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the police of leaking information about corruption investigations in which Netanyahu is a suspect.
Writing on his Facebook page on Saturday night, Netanyahu lashed out at Police Chief Roni Alsheikh, who is chosen by Netanyahu when he was appointed in 2015.
Netanyahu accused Alsheikh of failing to prevent "a tsunami" of "illegal leaks" from the two criminal investigations into graft, bribery, and breach of trust, in which Netanyahu is a suspect.
His remarks came shortly after a media report said Netanyahu was expected to be summoned for another questioning in the next few weeks.
The prime minister said that the media reports about the investigations are a "witch hunt."
The police dismissed the comments as "baseless attacks aimed at disrupting police work and damaging the legitimacy of rule of law."
The remarks were criticized across the board.
Former Prime Minister Ehud Barak blamed Netanyahu for orchestrating prosecution against Israel's law enforcement bodies. "Netanyahu is going down and he's willing to burn the entire country," Barak tweeted.
Interior Minister Gilad Erdan, who is a member of Netanyahu's Likud party, backed chief Alsheikh, saying he has "full confidence in his integrity and professionality." He also said that he will ask the police to consider launching an investigation into the alleged leaks.
Netanyahu has been under two separate criminal investigations over alleged corruption and bribery. He denies any wrongdoing.
