Criminal probe justified over Netanyahu spending claims, Israeli police chief says

In further damning testimony, Mr Naftali - who has immunity from prosecution - told detectives that a care worker was employed at taxpayers' expense at a monthly price of 1,684 to look after Mrs Netanyahu's elderly father, with the cost filed under cleaning expenses. The payment was later stopped when the prime minister's staff decided it was problematic.

The state comptroller's report noted that annual cleaning bills at the couple's two residences soared unaccountably from around 90,000 in 2009, when Mr Netanyahu took office, to double that two years later.

Mr Naftali also revealed a system of inflating guest expenditure by exaggerating the number of guests to the official residence and falsely stating their nationalities, since the budget for entertaining foreign dignitaries was almost double that for hosting Israelis.

On some occasions, it was stated on log books that there had been 10 guests when in fact there had only been four. It was also recorded on occasion that visitors had been from abroad when they were from Israel, apparently to justify higher expenditure claims.

Mr Shapira's report highlighted spending on takeaway meals - stating that in one year, nearly 12,000 had been spent on outside caterers even though an in-house cook was employed a public expense.

"There is no escaping a criminal investigation of the prime minister's conduct," Ynet, an Israeli news site critical of Mr Netanyahu, quoted unnamed senior legal sources as saying.

Police are investigating whether illicit fees made for unspecified work to an electrician who was not meant to be employed by the Netanyahus because he was an active active member of the Likud party was in fact payment for an earlier debt, Israel's Channel 2 TV station reported. The liberal Haaretz newspaper reported that investigtors plan to question other members of the Israeli leader's domestic staff in the coming days.

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Criminal probe justified over Netanyahu spending claims, Israeli police chief says