State prosecutor defends AG’s conduct in Netanyahu probes

State Prosecutor Shai Nitzan rejected on Thursday claims that investigations over the years involving public officials are influenced by political considerations.

It was an oblique reference to the ongoing police probes into suspicions involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and specifically allegations that Attorney General Avichai Mandeblit dragged his feet before launching the multi-pronged investigation into suspicions of graft and quid pro quo schemes.

Speaking at a conference for attorneys in Eilat, Nitzan said, “Over the years, we’ve heard allegations that we’ve opened investigations into certain officials because they were right-wing, or left-wing, or Arab and so on. Nothing could be further from the truth.”

The top prosecutor said that the spate of convictions in recent years of high-ranking Israeli officials, including former president Moshe Katsav and former PM Ehud Olmert, “proves that there are no extraneous considerations. The law enforcement system has proven that it does not hesitate to act where there are suspicions of criminal wrongdoing, even where the suspects were very senior officials.

“Sadly, sometimes we get attacked for initially opening a probe against a given person and not a full investigation, and then it’s argued that we are supposedly favoring him. This argument does not hold water,” he said.

Mandelblit officially announced just earlier this month that a criminal investigation involving Netanyahu had been launched, about seven months after an initial probe was opened.

Netanyahu is suspected of illicitly accepting gifts from wealthy benefactors and of an alleged quid pro quo deal involving media mogul Noni Mozes, who owns the daily Yedioth Ahronoth.

In transcripts of recordings that surfaced earlier this month, Netanyahu and Mozes appear to discuss a possible agreement under which the prime minister would advance legislation to reduce the circulation of the pro-Netanyahu Israel Hayom daily in exchange for friendlier coverage from Yedioth.

Earlier Thursday, Environmental Protection Minister Ze’ev Elkin (Likud) and Eran Tiefenbrunn, who served as editor-in-chief of Yedioth’s Ynet website, were questioned by officers at the Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit about the case.

Elkin, who is considered a close ally of the prime minister and served at the time as coalition chairman, was likely summoned to testify on whether he received instructions from Netanyahu to advance the so-called “Israel Hayom Bill,” which would have outlawed large-scale distribution of freebie newspapers, effectively curbing Israel Hayom’s distribution by forcing it to charge customers for copies.

Publicly, Netanyahu was always vehemently opposed to the bill, and earlier this week acknowledged that preventing its passage was a major impetus to the decision to call new elections in late 2014.

Yedioth Ahronoth editor Ron Yaron also gave a statement to police earlier this week, and Mozes has himself been questioned at least four times under caution in the past two weeks.

Netanyahu has been questioned several times about the recordings as well as the graft allegations, as have his wife, Sara, and their son Yair.

Mandelblit said in a speech Monday that police had collected considerable evidence abroad in recent months in the graft investigation, which concerns alleged illicit benefits received for years by the Netanyahu family from various businessmen.

Mandelblit was appointed attorney general last February after serving for three years as Netanyahu’s cabinet secretary.