Braverman agrees to temporary extension of release conditions until court ruling

Upon the recommendation of the Central District Court, Tzachi Braverman agrees to abide by restrictive release conditions that had been imposed on him for several weeks but expired at midnight last night, until the Rishon Lezion Magistrate’s Court can make a ruling on a request by the police to extend the restrictions.

Braverman is being investigated on suspicion of interfering with an investigation and other crimes, in connection with allegations that Braverman told Eli Feldstein, a former spokesperson for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, that he could quash a military investigation into Feldstein over the leak of a classified document to the German newspaper Bild.

The police only filed their extension request at noon yesterday, the day the conditions were set to expire, but Judge Menahem Mizrahi said the request could only be heard tomorrow, leading the police to appeal that decision to the District Court.

Since Braverman agrees to abide by the terms of the conditions until the Magistrate Court’s ruling, Judge Michael Karshen of the Central District Court says the appeal is therefore rendered obsolete.

Karshen adds that he had been concerned that the police deliberately delayed filing their extension request because the case was before Mizrahi, who has ruled against numerous police requests over this and other cases connected to the Bild and Qatargate affairs affecting the Prime Minister’s Office.

The judge says, however, that during today’s hearing the police presented him with a document that demonstrated “convincingly” why the release conditions extension request was filed so late.