Netanyahu's Lawyer Accuses Ex-AG Mandelblit of Misleading Court

During testimony in the Jerusalem District Court on Sunday, attorney Amit Haddad, representing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, sharply criticized former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit regarding the amended indictment in Case 4000. Haddad presented a significant discrepancy, stating the indictment grew from 15 to 315 cases, and argued that the majority of these new allegations were never presented to Netanyahu during his investigations.

Mandelblit admitted he had not personally reviewed the source materials for the expanded indictment and was unaware that most of the new cases were not raised with Netanyahu during questioning. When Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman directly asked Mandelblit if he had personally verified these details, he responded negatively.

Haddad seized on this admission, telling Mandelblit, "This is your responsibility, not the lawyers'. It's embarrassing." He further contended that the process of formulating the amended indictment had "trapped" a legal advisor. Mandelblit explained that the indictment was revised following a court request to detail the cases, and he had reviewed the amended version. However, he stated he did not know if the defense's claim that most individuals were not questioned on the hundreds of new cases was accurate, adding he does not follow every detail of the trial.

Mandelblit is testifying as a key defense witness in Netanyahu's trial, seven years after he announced the decision to indict the Prime Minister in the "Cases of the Century." The defense's central argument is that critical investigative actions were taken before receiving the Attorney General's official approval or that the police exceeded authorized boundaries. Haddad and co-counsel Noa Milstein are expected to question Mandelblit over several non-consecutive days in the weeks leading up to the Knesset elections.