AG says Netanyahu cannot fund legal defense with donation from witness

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has told the State Comptroller’s Office that he opposes Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to receive some NIS 10 million in outside funding for his legal expenses in a series of graft cases, saying that the donation would border on a gift.

“It cannot be stated that receiving this amount by the Prime Minister from Mr. Partridge is not a gift given to him as a public servant,” reads a letter from Mandelblit’s office urging the permits panel to reject the request.

Netanyahu has asked the committee to allow an NIS 10 million ($2.9 million) donation from Spencer Partrich, a Michigan-based real estate magnate, to fund his legal defense.

Because Partrich also happens to be a witness in one of the cases, the committee has asked the country’s attorney general for his opinion on the matter.