The timing is actually appropriate. The expected appointment of a new attorney general to the government, coupled with new, scandalous revelations about the process that led to former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu's indictment, are the right time and circumstances to examine – thoroughly, honestly, earnestly, without trying to protect the system, without cover-ups, without political interests – what the hell is going on here.
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Up until a few short months ago, fears Netanyahu's trial was a conspiracy seemed farfetched. Not anymore. Too much evidence is pointing to the extremely disconcerting possibility that his trial is the product of a conception, at best, and an actual conspiracy, at worst. Since the very outset of the trial, our jaws have dropped almost daily due to the errors – let's call them that – that have emerged. The accumulation of these errors pins numerous question marks over the system that AG-designate Gali Baharav-Miara will start managing next week.
A brief synopsis of what we've seen already: state's witnesses, who instead of testifying about the exchange of bribes, as was expected of them, denied they took place and generally helped the defense; a lack of any shred of evidence of bribery; investigators admitting they didn't run a comparative analysis to prove or disprove that Netanyahu in fact received "positive news coverage" or "unprofessional accommodation;" proof that the head of the Walla news site agreed to cover Netanyahu's political rivals positively; project 315, which discovered no instances of "unprofessional accommodation/positive coverage" actually occurred; the prosecution's illegal measures against those under interrogation; the inexplicable concessions afforded to former MK Eitan Cabel, Yedioth Ahronoth and Walla; and much more.
Netanyahu's indictment through these measures led to his election defeat. Even if he only lost two mandates, the outcome and the significance were a political overthrow that happened because of controversial actions taken by senior law enforcement officials against the country's most prominent politician.
No democrat can find this acceptable. No seeker of justice can come to terms with such an outrage. Therefore, the new attorney general's first order of business must be to stop Netanyahu's trial, re-examine the indictment and either annul or amend it in accordance with the findings. Prosecutions enact such processes when trials hit snags, and this is the obvious course of action in the current case. This is the only way to begin restoring the public's trust in the legal system. As long as this doesn't happen, Israel's status as a democracy will be in question.
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