JERUSALEM, Nov. 21 (Xinhua) -- Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu vowed on Thursday to stay in office despite a series of corruption charges pressed against him earlier and calls to resign.
Speaking on a live broadcast on his Facebook page, the long-time leader rejected the indictment as being based on "false accusations" and investigations deliberately "tainted" by the police.
In an unprecedented attack on the country's legal system, he said the indictment is as an "attempted coup."
Concluding a three-year criminal investigation, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit charged Netanyahu earlier on Thursday with bribery, fraud, and breaches of trust in three separate corruption scandals.
The indictment triggered calls for Netanyahu to resign. His main rival, Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party and a former military chief, said in a statement that Netanyahu "has no public or moral mandate to make fateful decisions for the State of Israel."
