Two weeks before the vote: ex-attorney general testifies in Netanyahu trial
Avichai Mandelblit, who once indicted Netanyahu, has appeared as a witness in the corruption trial, with Netanyahu in the courtroom. Israel votes on 27 October.
Symbolic image · Photo: Sir kiss / Wikimedia Commons, Public domain (cropped and resized)
Former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit testified on Sunday in the corruption trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Netanyahu attended the hearing. Mandelblit indicted him seven years ago for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes – the first such charges against a sitting Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu is accused of offering or exchanging favours with wealthy associates and media moguls for political gain. He denies any wrongdoing.
According to the Times of Israel, Mandelblit said he had been "furious" when police wiretapped Netanyahu's then chief of staff and had ordered it stopped. Netanyahu allies, including Likud MK Tali Gotliv, shouted at Mandelblit as he entered the Jerusalem District Court. Netanyahu's lawyers asked for Mandelblit to testify from 11 to 22 October – five days before the 27 October parliamentary election. Meanwhile opposition figure Naftali Bennett suggested Netanyahu could be part of a future government, angering others in the opposition.
Netanyahu also asked the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet domestic security service to investigate participants in the documentary "NAZA", in which military insiders describe what they say was reckless killing of civilians in Gaza. According to AP, Netanyahu called it "a false, misleading and biased story that slanders the State of Israel". The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival.