Judge Questions Former AG Mandelblit on Netanyahu Investigation Approval
Translated & summarized from 0404 by baba
Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit faced questioning from Judge Moshe Bar-Am regarding the scope of an investigation into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The judge pressed Mandelblit on whether the approval granted to investigators for probing suspicions of receiving benefits was explicit enough. Mandelblit maintained that investigators understood the scope, but the judge questioned if clearer wording was necessary.
The story in 4 lines · by baba
- Judge Bar-Am questioned former AG Mandelblit about the clarity of investigation approval in Netanyahu's trial.
- The judge asked if investigators were explicitly told what they could and could not do.
- Mandelblit stated the approval covered extensive benefit-related suspicions.
- The exchange focused on whether the approval was sufficiently defined or open to interpretation.
During the testimony of former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, questions arose regarding the general approval he granted to police investigators to probe suspicions of receiving benefits. Specifically, Judge Moshe Bar-Am pressed Mandelblit on whether the investigators were explicitly given defined boundaries for their inquiry, given the sensitivity of investigating a sitting prime minister.
"An investigation of a prime minister, God forbid the investigators do something forbidden. I don't understand from you what the investigators understood," the judge stated. Mandelblit responded that the approval pertained to intelligence suspicions of receiving extensive benefits, adding, "I think they understood it."
However, Judge Bar-Am was not satisfied and pressed further, "Wasn't it appropriate to write this more explicitly?" This exchange highlighted the central question: whether the approval given to the investigators was sufficiently clear and defined, or if it left room for interpretation regarding the scope of actions they were permitted to undertake during Netanyahu's investigation.
