Attorney Yoram Sheftel Alleges Illegal Fabrication of Netanyahu Corruption Case by Police Investigators
Attorney Yoram Sheftel claims that when it became clear that the right-wing and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu could not be defeated at the ballot box, a criminal investigation was fabricated against Netanyahu without authorization, legal basis, or government approval. In the fifth interview of a series, Sheftel asserts that corrupt senior police investigators initiated the probe by coercing Netanyahu’s associates to testify about alleged criminal conduct, all done without the knowledge or consent of then-Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who later filed the indictment.
Sheftel describes the lead investigators as criminals disguised as law enforcement and accuses Mandelblit of retroactively endorsing their illegal actions, thus becoming complicit. He further alleges that the head of the police investigations division remains corrupt and obstructs inquiries into fabricated evidence used to implicate elite soldiers. Sheftel also criticizes the timing of the investigations, linking them to the 2015 elections when polls showed Netanyahu trailing, prompting prosecutors and police to manufacture charges after electoral defeat seemed unlikely.
Regarding Mandelblit, Sheftel condemns him for advancing a novel bribery charge involving "good journalism," unprecedented in democratic countries, and accuses him of corruption and breach of duty by concealing threats against him to coerce the indictment. Sheftel speculates that Mandelblit’s motivation might have been personal ambition to secure a Supreme Court seat by removing Netanyahu, though he acknowledges this is conjecture.
Sheftel rejects the notion that Mandelblit’s absence from the initial decision-making rooms absolves him, emphasizing that documents submitted by Netanyahu demonstrate the illicit origins of the case. The interview continues a series exploring the origins and responsibility for the legal saga against Netanyahu, highlighting claims of a politically motivated and unlawful prosecution that has deeply impacted Israel.
