State rejects bid to muffle Netanyahu recommendations

The state registers its opposition to a High Court petition that would ban the publication of police’s conclusions from their investigations of Prime Minister Netanyahu.

The state also urges the court to “hand down its decision as soon as possible, so as not to delay the conveyance of the summary of the investigation files on the prime minister from the police to the state prosecution, which, as police said, is expected to take place in the coming days.”

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Sunday instructed police to wait before submitting their conclusions regarding the two graft investigations into Netanyahu’s affairs due to the petition, which demanded that no recommendations by police be made public — or even be included in the investigation materials submitted to the attorney general by police.

The appeal was submitted last week amid reports that police were poised to recommend indictments against the prime minister this week.

As a result of Mandelblit’s decision, publication of the police conclusions in Netanyahu’s cases is likely to be delayed by several days, assuming the High Court rejects the petition.

Yossi Fuchs, the attorney who filed the petition, defended it earlier today as a demand for “justice,” but also admitted it was bid to protect Netanyahu’s right-wing government.

— with Raoul Wootliff