Netanyahu said to believe attorney general will quash indictments

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu expects that police will recommend indictment in a pair of corruption cases against him but is convinced that Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit will decide not to bring charges and will “bury” the indictment, Channel 2 reports.

Hebrew media reported last week that police will recommend filing indictments against Netanyahu in two cases — the so-called Case 1000 and Case 2000 — as the investigations appear to be strengthened by “significant material” provided by Netanyahu’s former chief of staff and aide, Ari Harow, who recently turned state’s witness.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife are suspected of receiving illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably hundreds of thousands of shekels’ worth of cigars and champagne from the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan.

Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister hobble a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, through Knesset legislation in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

A police recommendation does not carry legal weight. It is for state prosecutors to decide whether to press charges.

The Prime Minister’s Office tells the channel in response to today’s report that Netanyahu “never said such a thing about the attorney general and has only said, time and time again, that nothing will come of this as there is nothing there.”

— Raoul Wootliff