In a few weeks, Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will retire. Recently, Mandelblit has been conducting secret negotiations with Benjamin Netanyahu’s attorney on the possibility of a plea bargain. Ben Caspit revealed the first details of the matter, but the negotiations have not ended.
Globes has learned that the negotiations were conducted in complete secrecy, when Netanyahu conducted the negotiations on behalf of his defense attorney, Boaz Ben-Zur. On the other hand, there were only four secret partners: Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who secretly shared State Attorney Amit Isman and Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben-Ari, as well as his senior aide, Adv. Hagai Harush. This includes people that Mandelblit used to consult with and keep them secret, such as Deputy Attorney General Raz Nazri and Deputy Attorney General Amit Merri.
Netanyahu also acted in complete secrecy. The negotiations were conducted for him by Adv. Ben-Zur, with the other defendants in the 4000 case, Shaul and Iris Alovich, as well as their defense attorneys, Jacques Chen and Michal Rosen Ozer, completely excluded from the fact that the negotiations have been going on for a long time.
According to the settlement, Netanyahu was supposed to confess to the breach of trust clause, when according to the case story, the Elowitz couple did act to bribe him, but his own awareness of the bribe – decreased, and the offense of breach of trust remained.
In this respect, Netanyahu, who conducted secret and independent negotiations with the ombudsman, intended to leave the Elowitz couple alone in the arena, with Shaul Elowitz having to deal with another criminal case in the Tel Aviv Economic Court (“Bezeq case”).
In the past, Elowitz was offered to serve as a state witness against Netanyahu, while completely waiving criminal sanctions against him, and giving up his son Orr and his wife Iris completely. Shaul Alovich refused to become a state witness and refused a plea deal and remained hand in hand with Netanyahu, and their lines of defense connected with each other.
However, the fact that Netanyahu intended to admit the breach of trust clause was supposed to make it somewhat easier for Elowitz, in light of the fact that in fact the trial will be conducted in this situation against an entity that bribed without an entity actually receiving the bribe.
What will happen to the proceedings against the Elowitzs?
Another relevant point is the claim that the State Attorney’s Office has invested enormous resources in the case because it is the Prime Minister. Once the senior official comes out of the case in the settlement, the motivation to conduct the proceedings to the end against the other defendants who have long since descended from their greatness, is shrouded in great fog.
It is doubtful whether the director of the securities department at the Jewish Prosecutor’s Office, Tirosh, and her staff will continue to set foot in Tel Aviv to Jerusalem three times a week in order to conduct another criminal case. Once the public interest has dropped from the case, it is possible that Elovich will also be able to close a lenient and generous plea agreement with the State Attorney’s Office.
Either way, while the plea deal has been leaked to the media. But from the parties’ point of view, nothing exploded. According to information in our possession, Netanyahu is still willing to admit to the offense of breach of trust, but refuses to discredit it.
For Avichai Mandelblit, and more precisely, for his secret partners, such a possibility is out of the question. The parties have a little more than two weeks left to conduct the negotiations, because by February 1, 2022, Mandelblit will no longer serve as attorney general. However, it should be noted that State Attorney Amit Isman, who is in the know, agreed to serve as his deputy until the election of the new ombudsman.
Another point on the table is the identity of the next ombudsman. Gali Bahrav-Myara did not express her opinion in any way on Netanyahu’s case. Against Netanyahu is wrong and that the 2000 case should also be closed against him.
Is it worth it for Netanyahu to hurry to sign the arrangement when he knows what the conditions are offered to him or is it to wait for a decision on the identity of the next ombudsman and hope that the underdog candidate will be elected to the position? To sign or not to sign, that is the question.