Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing several corruption charges. It's a complex, multi-faceted case, but at the heart of the indictment, is a bribery charge involving "positive news coverage" in exchange for lucrative regulatory concessions.

The indictment purports that Netanyahu offered a wealthy Israeli businessman regulatory concessions worth 500 million dollars in exchange for "positive news coverage" from said businessman's media companies.

However, members of Netanyahu's government blasted Israel's Attorney General for bringing forth bribery charges that they call "impossible" and "unprecedented in the "history of western democracy." They claim that "positive news coverage" can't be considered a "thing of value" and has never been brought forth as such in the US or other similar legal systems. Is that an accurate assessment? If the Israeli prosecution can show that said "positive news coverage" was systemic, far-reaching, and out of character for the media companies involved, can that constitute "a thing of value" even though no money was actually exchanged? The prosecution will claim as part of their case that Netanyahu is obsessed with his image in the media and that in 2020, "positive media coverage" can and does amount to a "thing of value."

Has such a case ever been prosecuted in the U.S. or any other western democracy?

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is facing several corruption charges. It's a complex, multi-faceted case, but at the heart of the indictment, is a bribery charge involving "positive news coverage" in exchange for lucrative regulatory concessions.

The indictment purports that Netanyahu offered Shaul Elovitch, a wealthy Israeli businessman, regulatory concessions for his telecom company worth 500 million dollars in exchange for "positive news coverage" from Elovitch's other media companies.

However, members of Netanyahu's government blasted Israel's Attorney General for bringing forth bribery charges that they call "impossible" and "unprecedented in the history of western democracy." They claim that "positive news coverage" can't be considered a "thing of value" and has never been brought forth as such in the US or other similar legal systems. Is that an accurate assessment? If the Israeli prosecution can show that said "positive news coverage" was systemic, far-reaching, and out of character for the media companies involved, can that constitute "a thing of value" even though no money was actually exchanged? The prosecution will claim as part of their case that Netanyahu is obsessed with his image in the media and that in 2020, "positive media coverage" can and does amount to a "thing of value."

Has such a case ever been prosecuted in the U.S. or any other western democracy?