After nearly four years of investigations and legal deliberations, the three Netanyahu cases are nearing the last hurdle before a possible indictment.
Four days of pre-trial hearings ended at the Justice Ministry in Jerusalem on Monday evening with Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyers making their case against potential charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Each day included an 11-hour session, with breaks for lunch, during which the defence team presented alternative explanations for the evidence accumulated by the police.
In Case 1000, where Mr Netanyahu is accused of having received illegal gifts from wealthy businessmen, they argued the gifts had come from personal friends and that the prime minister had received legal advice that he could accept the gifts.
In addition, they claimed that the bulk of the gifts were for Sara Netanyahu and that the prime minister was not aware of what his wife was receiving.
In the second case, Case 2000, he is accused of having struck a deal for favourable coverage in Yedioth Ahronot with its publisher, Arnon Mozes, in return for legislation limiting the distribution of the rival freesheet Yisrael Hayom.
Mr Netanyahu’s team argued that there is no case here since the deal was never carried out. In addition, they claimed that the prime minister never had any intention to carry it out and was simply trying to mislead Mr Mozes.
Against Case 4000, in which Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is considering a bribery charge, the lawyers argued that, contrary to the allegations, Mr Netanyahu did not order Communications Ministry officials to change regulations in favour of telecoms giant Bezeq.
They also disputed the claim that Mr Netanyahu and his family had received favourable coverage on the Walla! website owned by Bezeq.
At the hearing, they presented opinions of five international law experts warning against charging a politician for receiving a bribe in the shape of favourable media coverage, calling it “dangerous interference” in the relationship between politicians and the media.
It is unclear how long the attorney general intends to take before he delivers his final decision, although it will probably be at least a month.
Sources in the Justice Ministry said Mr Netanyahu’s lawyers did not present any new evidence during the hearings and there will be no need for additional investigations.
The teams of attorneys which were in charge of the different cases will have to prepare their recommendations for Mr Mandelblit’s decision.
His number two, State Attorney Shai Nitzan, is to retire mid-December, and there is an expectation that the decision will be announced before then.
