Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has filed suit against a television channel and a newspaper for accusing him of taking trips at the expense of private businessmen, aides said Wednesday.
The libel suit against private Channel 10 and the Maariv daily is seeking damages of one million shekels ($282,000/202,000 euros) from each, saying many of the facts reported were false and aimed to "ridicule" and "humiliate" him.
The reports were "false" and "were disparaging, very hurtful and created a negative portrayal of him, depicting him as a felon," an aide said.
The suit follows a report last week on Channel 10 that accused Netanyahu of having private flights, luxury hotels and fancy meals for him, his wife and children paid for by wealthy foreign benefactors.
Other newspapers, including Maariv, have since published other, similar allegations.
The alleged incidents occurred when Netanyahu was an MP and cabinet minister and does not relate to his term as Prime minister.
Following the initial broadcast, Netanyahu released a statement saying the report was part of a long-standing campaign by the Channel 10 reporter "to besmirch the name of the Prime minister and his family."
"No external body ever paid for Mr Netanyahu's children's flights at any point when he was in public office," it said.
Also Wednesday, the State Comptroller, who has indicated he would investigate the allegations, said that if proved true such behaviour was unacceptable.
It is "inappropriate for public officials to travel at the expense of donors and philanthropists," the Haaretz daily's website quoted Micha Lindenstrauss as saying.
Netanyahu's predecessor, Ehud Olmert, resigned under pressure in September 2008 after police recommended he be indicted for corruption and is currently on trial on three counts of fraud and bribery.
In one case, he is accused of unlawfully accepting gifts of cash-stuffed envelopes from Jewish-American businessman Morris Talanski and of multiple-billing for foreign trips.
And the justice ministry said earlier this month that prosecutors will file charges against 18 people, including Olmert, for allegedly taking bribes in a massive property scandal.