Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's attorneys plan to appeal to the High Court of Justice following a decision by the State Comptroller's Permits Committee to deny his request for donations to help cover legal fees for his defense team in the various cases of alleged corruption open against him.
The committee also determined that Netanyahu must return an already transferred donation of $300,000 that he received from his cousin.
The prime minister has argued that in light of the massive budget the state is investing in the investigations into his alleged wrongdoings, he cannot on his own fund a legal defense without financial help from his cousin, businessman Nathan Milikowsky, and American millionaire Spencer Partrich.
The committee ruled that Netanyahu must exhaust his personal resources before asking others to fund his legal defense, and that his financial situation was robust. Netanyahu's request included permission for donations to cover an initial defense budget of $1 million, with Milikowsky and Partrich each providing half.
The funds were to have covered legal consultations already rendered, and legal expenses until Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit decides whether or not to issue an indictment in any of the cases involving the prime minister.
If the need would have arisen, Netanyahu planned to ask Milikowosky and Partrich for additional donations of up to $2 million. The prime minister said he would also use his own money to help pay for his defense.
The committee also ruled that Netanyahu must also return business suits he received from his cousin.
One of Netanyahu's attorneys, Navot Tel-Zur, argued that Netanyahu and his legal team had believed that donations from a family member did not require committee approval. The funds from Milikowsky, according to Tel-Zur, were received between March 2017 and March 2018, before Mendelblit had clarified that such donations needed to be approved.
"This is an unprecedented ruling that violates [our client's] basic rights. It is unheard of for a prime minister to be prevented the basic right of legal aid, which is given to every Knesset member," Netanyahu's lawyers said in a statement.
"We intend to file a petition with the High Court of Justice against this outrageous decision," the lawyers said.
Mendelblit, meanwhile, is expected to decide makes his decision on an indictment by this weekend or early next week, at the lawwww.
The attorney general is reportedly leaning against issuing an indictment in Case 2,000, which focuses on an illicit deal Netanyahu allegedly tried to strike with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes, under which Yedioth would have softened its aggressive anti-Netanyahu stance in return for the prime minister working to pass legislation that would help Yedioth financially or use his influence to curtail Israel Hayom, Yedioth's rival.
State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan has pushed for an indictment in Case 2,000, arguing that failing to do so would hinder indictment efforts in the more important Case 4,000, due to their similarities.
Case 4,000 centers on alleged conflict of interest involving Netanyahu, Bezeq and the Walla news website, which Bezeq owns. The police allege that Bezeq's controlling shareholder, Shaul Elovitch, promised positive coverage of the Netanyahu family on Walla in exchange for the prime minister promoting government regulations favorable to Bezeq that would cement the telecom giant's market share and be worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the corporation.
Netanyahu said on Sunday: "The Left wants to win the election to establish a Lapid-Gantz government supported by an obstructionist block of Arab parties. To do this, they are pressuring the attorney general to issue an indictment at all costs…
"They are even working to deny me the basic right to fund my legal defense against an army of investigators and lawyers working 24/7, with a budget of a quarter billion shekels at the expense of the taxpayer," Netanyahu said.
A third case known as Case 1,000 centers on illicit gifts Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, allegedly received from billionaire businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer.
