As attorney general weighs indicting Netanyahu, grave of his father defaced

The grave of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s father was vandalized earlier this month, reports say Thursday, amid threats and accusations leveled by government officials against Mandelblit, who is due to decide whether to indict Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in three corruption cases.

Mandelblit discovered the vandalism ten days ago, when he visited his mother’s grave on the anniversary of her death, Hadashot and Channel 10 news both report.

Mandelblit immediately updated police that the tombstone of his father, Baruch, had been smashed with a heavy tool such as a hammer, the reports say. They add that no other tombstones were damaged, indicating that the unknown perpetrators had been specifically targeting the specific grave.

Netanyahu, who has railed against Mandelblit in recent weeks as he began reviewing the evidence provided by police in the criminal cases against him, responds immediately to the reports, condemning the vandalism as “a shocking act that should be unequivocally condemned.”

The premier says he has asked Public Security Minister Gilad Erdan to immediately investigate who damaged the grave.

Police have reportedly launched an investigation into the incident.

— Michael Bachner