Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's lawyers lashed out at Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit on Tuesday after it was revealed that he would announce his decision to go ahead with a pre-indictment hearing against the prime minister even before the April 9 elections.
Netanyahu's legal team was highly critical of the apparent decision, revealed by the Hadashot evening news, claiming that such an announcement would make voters biased against Netanyahu. According to his lawyers, the actual hearing would only take place after the elections, thus denying him the opportunity to clear his name before Israelis go to the polls.
"We believe no hearing will take place because the case has no merits, but it would be undemocratic to launch such a process just before elections are held; it would be unacceptable to let the public only hear one side," Netanyahu's lawyers said in a statement. "There have been many instances in the past in which indictments were scrapped after the accused made their case during the pre-indictment hearing. That is why announcing such a decision in the midst of an election campaign – without hearing what the other side has to say – distorts the will of the people and severely undermines the democratic process."
According to the Hadashot evening news, Mendelblit made the decision after conferring with former senior law-enforcement officials about a week ago. Participants included former state attorneys and attorneys general, as well as former Supreme Court justices. During the meeting, held at a Jerusalem hotel, Mendelblit made it clear that he wanted to move ahead with a pre-indictment hearing but wanted to make sure that announcing it just before an election was not legally problematic.
The criminal investigations facing Netanyahu, known as Case 1,000, Case 2,000 and Case 4,000, are expected to cloud the campaign. Case 1,000 centers on expensive gifts Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, allegedly received from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian tycoon James Packer.
Case 2,000 focuses on an alleged deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes in which Yedioth would soften its aggressive anti-Netanyahu tone in return for the prime minister acting to curtail Yedioth rival Israel Hayom's activities to benefit Yedioth financially. Case 4,000 revolves around allegations of a deal in which Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israeli telecom corporation Bezeq, ensured positive coverage for Netanyahu in the Bezeq-owned Walla news website in exchange for the prime minister promoting government regulations worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the company.
According to the Hadashot report, Mendelblit was advised by all those present at the meeting that he should announce his decision before the elections. Officials at the Justice Ministry confirmed the meeting was held but insisted that it was a routine gathering held annually, involving the state attorney and other senior officials. "The meeting, held for the second year in a row, was scheduled several months ago," the State Attorney's Office said in a statement. "The meeting dealt with a variety of legal issues, and although at some point the Netanyahu cases did come up, it wasn't Mendelblit who broached this topic." According to the Hadashot report, Mendelblit would go ahead with the pre-indictment hearing only if he is certain that no additional investigative work is needed.
