Police arrest 17 senior officials in criminal offense probe

Israel Police arrested 17 senior officials in the central city of Rishon Lezion on Sunday. The officials are suspected of corruption, and they were arrested as part of a covert operation to reveal the connections between criminal elements and local, municipal and national governmental structures.

The arrests followed a 30,000+ strong protest in Tel Aviv on Saturday night against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and corruption in his government, as well as the ''French bill'' which, if passed, would prohibit police from issuing recommendations for indictments against prime ministers.