Mandelblit tells court investigators did not need new consent for each step

Former Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit told the Jerusalem District Court on Monday that police investigators did not need to return to him for approval of every individual action during the probe into Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s dealings with businessmen. The defense is using his testimony to argue that the investigators operated within the specific limits he set when he first authorized the investigation.

Mandelblit, who signed off on the original investigations and later approved the indictment, testified for the defense side. Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, pressed him on exactly which steps required further consent and which were covered by the initial permission. The questioning focused on the preliminary examination that evolved into Case 1000.

Case 1000 centers on alleged costly gifts Netanyahu received from Hollywood producers Arnon Milchan and James Packer, as well as actions taken to benefit them. Hadad asked whether investigators overreached when they questioned Hadas Klein, Milchan’s assistant, and Yonatan Hasson, Packer’s driver, about these gifts. Mandelblit maintained that these interviews fell within his wider permission to examine suspicions that the prime minister received substantial benefits from business partners.

He explained that this permission remained in force throughout the investigation. Investigators did not have to seek his sign-off for each new line of questioning, provided the subject matter stayed within the scope he had approved. Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked how police could distinguish between steps covered by that authorization and those requiring additional consent. Mandelblit replied that the subject matter defined the boundaries, while major developments called for further consultation.

On Sunday, Mandelblit also addressed the wiretapping of Natan Eshel, a close confidant of Netanyahu. He said he ordered police to stop the operation once he learned of it, even though the investigators had secured a court warrant. Mandelblit argued that listening in on someone so involved in the prime minister’s personal and political affairs was sensitive enough to require his prior approval.

Netanyahu’s trial began in May 2020 and spans three cases involving alleged gifts and dealings with media owners. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in all three cases. In Case 4000, he also faces a bribery charge related to alleged regulatory benefits for Bezeq in exchange for intervention in news coverage at Walla. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in all three cases.