Former AG says police kept broad authority in Netanyahu trial

Avichai Mandelblit told the Jerusalem District Court that investigators did not need to return to him for consent on every individual action during the probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The former attorney-general testified on Monday that the broad permission he originally granted remained in force.

Mandelblit authorized the initial investigations and later signed off on the indictment. He is testifying for the defense. The trial began in May 2020 and covers three cases involving alleged gifts and dealings with media owners. Netanyahu faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in all three cases. In Case 4000, he also faces a bribery charge related to alleged benefits for Bezeq.

The hearing focused on Case 1000, which concerns costly gifts allegedly received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer. Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, questioned whether investigators exceeded Mandelblit’s authority when they examined Hadas Klein, Milchan’s assistant, and Yonatan Hasson, Packer’s driver, about the gifts.

Mandelblit maintained that questioning these individuals fell within his wider permission to examine suspicions that Netanyahu received substantial benefits from businessmen. He stated that the subject matter he approved set the boundaries for the investigation. He added that only significant developments would have required further consultation with his office.

Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked how investigators were supposed to distinguish between steps covered by the initial authorization and those needing additional consent. Mandelblit answered that the scope of the approved subject matter defined the limits. He noted that the original approval allowed for a range of investigative steps without a new sign-off for each one.

In testimony on Sunday, Mandelblit discussed the wiretapping of Natan Eshel, a confidant of Netanyahu. He said he ordered police to stop the operation once he learned of it, even though investigators had secured a court warrant. He argued that listening in on someone so closely involved in the prime minister’s personal and political affairs was sensitive enough to warrant prior approval from his office.

Hadad pressed Mandelblit on the specific investigative steps that required further consent. The former attorney-general clarified that the initial authorization covered a broad range of activities. He said the police had standing authority to proceed within that scope until a major change in circumstances occurred that would have necessitated a new review.