A commentary on Channel 13’s new special series says the network has launched an ambitious project to assess, after the end of Benjamin Netanyahu’s long testimony in Case 4000, whether the cases against him are headed for acquittal or conviction. The writer argues that the series, led by legal and political commentator Baruch Kara, does not really deliver a clear legal forecast, even though it promises to explain the chances of the prime minister being cleared or found guilty.
According to the critique, Kara should have done one of two things: take a clear side and explain why Netanyahu would be acquitted or convicted, or present the strongest arguments on both sides without pretending the outcome is certain. Instead, the author says, the series creates an impression of manipulation, driven by the familiar message that Netanyahu is a manipulator and liar, rather than by strict legal analysis.
The main example is Case 4000, where Kara highlights what he presents as a major development, the bribery count may have been revived after the defense showed that a key meeting, the so-called instruction meeting in which Netanyahu allegedly directed regulatory favors for Shaul Elovitch in return for positive coverage, could not have happened on the date alleged by the prosecution. But the critic says the experts Kara interviews, including senior lawyers, do not give a definitive answer, so Kara’s conclusion rests mostly on his own interpretation.
The piece says most legal analysts think Netanyahu is in very bad shape in Case 1000, his position in Case 2000 is unclear, and the bribery charge in Case 4000 is difficult for the prosecution to prove. It adds that Netanyahu himself likely understands this, which is why he is trying to make Case 1000 look absurd, while challenging Case 4000 substantively. The broader concern, the author writes, is not the verdict itself but a political and media slope in which, as he puts it, “the bribery doubt of yesterday is the law of tomorrow.” He concludes that a true court ruling is unlikely, and that any eventual deal or outcome will depend on Netanyahu’s political strength, not only on the evidence.
