Mandelblit said to tell Netanyahu plea deal talks will have to continue with next AG

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s office has notified opposition chairman Benjamin Netanyahu’s attorneys that plea deal negotiations in the ex-premier’s criminal trial will have to continue under the next AG, the Haaretz daily reports.

Mandelblit is slated to finish his seven-year term in the coming days, and the message marks an admission by the attorney general that he will not personally be able to see out the primary case of his tenure.

Recent weeks saw reports that Netanyahu is in talks to sign a plea agreement that would bring an end to the criminal trial against him and mark his departure from politics in order to avoid prison time.

While the reports initially said that the sides were on the verge of an agreement, the talks are believed to have hit a wall, more recently.

An hour ago, Netanyahu published a video in which he vowed to remain leader of his Likud party, and claimed he did not agree during plea talks to a “moral turpitude” clause that would bar the opposition leader from political life for seven years.