Opposition pans PM for using hearing delay to avoid facing justice

Reacting to the Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s announcement that he has agreed to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a delay in the pre-indictment hearing against him, opposition lawmakers argue that the premier will use the extra time to stifle the courts in order to avoid being charged at all.

“I welcome the attorney general’s decision, rejecting Netanyahu’s attempt to postpone the hearing for an entire year whole year, instead only granting him a proportionate extension,” says Labor MK Shelly Yachimovich, referring  to Mandelblit’s decision to agree to a three-month delay from July until October, instead of the 12 months that the Likud leader had requested.

“In any event, it is already clear that the deferral will be used [by Netanyahu] for destructive attempts to assure that the hearing will not take place, and that he will escape justice while destroying the foundations of democracy,” the former opposition chairwoman added.

Meretz head Tamar Zandberg provided a more fiery response, saying in a statement that “the prime minister suspected of bribery intends to throw everything he’s got toward abolishing the independence of the courts in order to evade prosecution.

The Movement for Quality Government announced that it will petition the High Court of Justice against Mandelblit’s delay.