Binyamin Netanyahu has never been over-liked by the media, whether playing at home or on an overseas pitch. Like a football, he is simply booted around by jealous opponents, who want themselves and their friends to have more power.

Does he care? Quite honestly, he grew up as an outsider in the USA, and I suspect that is still part of his psyche today. The question is has the press got it right this time? After all, the Israeli press has already seen in recent years a former Prime Minister and former President go to prison. So is Netanyahu, or Bibi, as he is colloquially known, next in line?

Bibi has often been associated with scandals. Little has come out of them.

Then a few months ago, his wife, Sara, was found guilty of abusing an employee.  The problem is this was second time around. The press had fun describing – who knows the truth – the apparently bizarre lifestyle of the Prime Minister’s residence.

Next has come the strange stories surrounding the Netanyahu’s eldest son, Yair. At 25 years of age, it seems that he is becoming a proverbial ‘power behind the throne’ of his father. (Bibi is Israel’s longest serving Prime Minister.) Nothing necessarily wrong in his role of advisor. But look at the company Yair keeps!

One of Bibi Junior’s closest friends in James Packer, scion of the Australian Packer media empire. It appears that Packer’s Israeli lawyer has approached the Minister of Interior himself to receive a special visa for his client for his long stays in the country. OK, but that same lawyer may have also represented Bibi in the past. To me, that sounds just a bit too cozy.

Maybe I could accept all that, until the submarine story emerged at the end of last week. As background, last month, Israel agreed to purchase 3 submarines from Germany, even though the former Minister of Defense had objected to the deal.

It has since emerged in fits and drabs that Bibi’s private lawyer, David Shimron, who has also been used for diplomatic missions, played the role of agent between the Israeli representative of the German manufacturer and the various parties in Israel. Shimron has denied ever discussing the subject with Bibi. And there is no real evidence to the contrary.

However, there is plenty of room for a conflict  of interest. To be blunt, why did Shimron not declare his intentions to all in the first place, so that could be no misunderstandings? And as one former senior civil servant asked: Israel has previously purchased from this manufacturer. So why is there a need for an agent to cement the deal?

It sounds so wrong. At this stage, the German company – whose track record on corruption ain’t brilliant – is conducting its own investigation. The Israeli Ministry of Justice is not opening a file, for now.

In parallel, the local press has been made aware that yet another investigation is under way against Bibi for possible money laundering. Again, there is no clear direction for now.

Individually, these stories can be explained. Together, for me, they add up to a pattern or norm of government that reminds me of ‘banana republics’. I utterly reject this form of government and rule.