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Netanyahu can stay on as Prime Minister despite indictment: Israel's Attorney General

Netanyahu can stay on as Prime Minister despite indictment: Israel's Attorney General

Bid to quell rage

Prime Minister BenjaminNetanyahucanstayonin his post although he has been indictedoncorruption charges, Israel'sattorneygeneralsaid Monday.

Avichai Mandelblit, in a statement, said,"there is no legal obligation for the prime minister to resign".

Under Israeli law, while ministers cannot keep their posts after the indictment, a prime minister is not legally required to step down unless convicted and with all appeals exhausted.

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But the embattled premier has faced calls to resign from several politicians since Mandelblit last Thursday charged him with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

Watch: Benjamin Netanyahu acts unperturbed by indictment

Theindictmentcomes as Israel edges closer to its thirdgeneralelection in a year, after two inconclusive polls in April and September, withNetanyahuand centrist rival Benny Gantz unable to form a government.

Gantz's Blue and White party won one more seat thanNetanyahu's rightwing Likud in the September polls.

Parliament now has less than three weeks to find a candidate who can gain the support of more than half of the Knesset's 120 lawmakers, or a deeply unpopular third election will be called.

Netanyahuremains the country's interim premier.