The evidentiary material from the corruption investigations against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will not be released until after the April 9 election to avoid media leaks, the Justice Ministry said on Monday.
Netanyahu had asked Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit not to release information pertaining to the investigations against him, fearing this would leak to the press and affect his electoral prospects.
Mendelblit heeded that request, saying that he will release the information on April 10, and only then schedule a pre-indictment hearing, during which Netanyahu would be given a chance to rebut the allegations against him.
Netanyahu has been investigated in three corruption cases over the past three years.
In Case 1,000, one of the first cases to come to light, Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, were investigated for allegedly accepting illicit gifts from billionaire businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer.
In Case 2,000, in which Netanyahu is suspected of negotiating a deal with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon "Noni" Mozes under which he would work to curtail the activity of Israel Hayom in exchange for Yedioth Ahronoth softening its harshly critical coverage of Netanyahu.
In Case 4,000, Netanyahu is suspected of having offered Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder in the Bezeq communications giant, regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels in exchange for favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his family on the Bezeq-owned Walla news website.
Mendelblit informed Netanyahu's lawyers last month that he was considering indicting Netanyahu in all three cases, with a final decision depending on the outcome of the pre-indictment hearing.
According to Mendelblit, if an indictment goes forward Netanyahu would face three counts of fraud and breach of trust in all three cases, as well as one count of accepting a bribe in Case 4,000.
However, counts may be dropped or added after the pre-indictment hearing.
