Sharon may face corruption charges over links to property developer

Israeli prosecutors are considering charging the Prime Minister, Ariel Sharon, with corruption, after an Israeli businessman was formally charged yesterday with trying to bribe him.

For the first time since corruption allegations surrounding Mr Sharon emerged over a year ago, it looked as if he might be in danger of being forced out of office. Israeli opposition leaders called for him to resign, and political analysts said that if formal charges were brought against him he would lose his grip on power.

There were the first signs of jockeying for position among the potential candidates to succeed Mr Sharon as leader of the ruling Likud party if he were forced to stand down, among them Mr Sharon's old rival, Binyamin Netanyahu.

The scandal revolves around David Appel, a prominent Israeli property developer who is influential in the Likud party. He was yesterday charged with attempting to bribe Mr Sharon in the 1990s, when Mr Sharon was foreign minister, to use his influence to help Mr Appel buy a Greek island, to have land owned by Mr Appel in Israel re-zoned so it could be developed, and to help with other development projects.

According to the indictment, Mr Appel is accused of transferring $580,000 (£317,000)to a business owned by Mr Sharon, and paying the Prime Minister's son Gilad a further $100,000 as a bribe for his father. Mr Appel was charged with hiring Gilad Sharon as a marketing adviser - a job for which he was not qualified - in order to use him as a conduit for bribes to his father.

Mr Appel is also accused of attempting to bribe the Deputy Prime Minister, Ehud Olmert, a close ally of Mr Sharon's.

Mr Appel's lawyer, Moshe Israel, denied the charges. "There is no doubt he is innocent," he said yesterday.

An unnamed source in the Justice Ministry was quoted yesterday as saying it would take "from a few weeks to a few months" for prosecutors to decide whether to bring charges against Mr Sharon, his son, or Mr Olmert.

Mr Sharon's political allies were confident that he could weather the storm, and insisted it was business as usual in the Prime Minister's Office. They said they did not expect any charges to be brought against Mr Sharon.

In a separate case, Mr Sharon is being investigated for alleged involvement in illegal campaign financing. His sons Gilad and Omri have been accused of using a $1.5m loan as collateral during Mr Sharon's 1999 primary campaign for the Likud party leadership. Mr Sharon denied knowledge of the alleged loan.