Ex-AG Mandelblit Testifies in Netanyahu Corruption Trial

Former Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit testified on Sunday as a defense witness in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial. His testimony is expected to focus on a key defense argument: whether police conducted investigations against Netanyahu without Mandelblit's legally required prior approval. Mandelblit's appearance comes nearly seven years after he indicted Netanyahu and a decade after suspicions against the prime minister first emerged, with Israeli elections approaching in about two and a half weeks.

Netanyahu is attending the hearing, as he has for previous central testimonies from close associates like Nir Hefetz and Shlomo Filber. Netanyahu's lawyers, Amit Hadad and Noa Milstein, called Mandelblit to testify over seven non-consecutive days. The court may limit this time, as the questioning is anticipated to center on the approvals Mandelblit issued for the investigations.

The defense contends that police initiated investigative steps against Netanyahu without the Attorney General's consent, violating "Basic Law: Government." The prosecution maintains that all examination and investigation procedures were conducted legally and with necessary approvals. Mandelblit is also expected to be questioned about the investigative methods used with state witness Nir Hefetz, who described some tactics as "harsh" but stated they did not influence his decision to become a witness.

Mandelblit will also face testimony from investigators called by the defense. Former investigations unit official Eran Kamin stated he met journalist Ben Caspit in 2015, before a formal investigation, to verify information about gifts received by Netanyahu and his wife, arguing such a meeting did not require the Attorney General's approval. Other testimonies addressed the 2017 wiretapping of Netanyahu associate Natan Eshel, ordered as part of "File 2000" but halted less than a month later. The defense suggested this operation lacked Mandelblit's approval, while a former legal official stated his consent was needed to open the investigation, not for every subsequent step.

Conversely, a prosecutor in Cases 1000 and 2000 confirmed Mandelblit approved examining suspicions of Netanyahu receiving gifts in June 2016, following intelligence accumulation, and that this approval covered investigation and questioning. However, former investigator Tzachi Habkin claimed late last year that investigators broadened the "gifts affair" probe beyond the original scope of approval.

A secret protocol from a Ministry of Justice meeting is another point of contention. The defense cited parts of it to argue police exceeded Mandelblit's approvals, but the prosecution later presented additional sections suggesting Mandelblit requested a thorough examination of the gifts case. It emerged during the trial that Mandelblit's approvals were often verbal, documented in Ministry of Justice protocols rather than formal written decisions, a practice judges have previously criticized. Mandelblit is expected to explain this procedure before the prosecution questions him to counter the defense's claims of illegal investigations.