Former Attorney-General Mandelblit Returns to Stand in Netanyahu Trial as Defense Probes Limits of Investigative Approvals

Former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit returned to the Jerusalem District Court on Monday to continue giving testimony in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The defense is using his appearance to press a central question: did investigators stay within the approvals he granted them?

Mandelblit authorized the original investigations and later signed off on the indictment. He is testifying for the defense. Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, asked him what police were allowed to examine and which investigative steps required Mandelblit's further consent.

In testimony on Sunday, Mandelblit said he ordered police to stop wiretapping Natan Eshel, a confidant of Netanyahu, once he learned of the operation. Investigators had secured a court warrant, but he said that listening in on someone so closely involved in the prime minister's personal and political affairs was sensitive enough that they should have sought his approval first.

On Monday the hearing moved to the preliminary examination that grew into Case 1000. That case concerns costly gifts Netanyahu allegedly received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer, as well as actions he allegedly took to benefit Milchan.

Hadad questioned whether investigators went beyond what Mandelblit had authorized when they questioned Hadas Klein, Milchan's assistant, and Yonatan Hasson, Packer's driver, about the gifts.

Mandelblit maintained that the questioning fell within his wider permission to examine suspicions that Netanyahu received substantial benefits from businessmen. He said that permission stayed in force, and investigators did not have to return to him for approval of each individual action.

Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked how investigators were supposed to tell the difference between steps covered by that authorization and those needing additional consent. Mandelblit answered that the subject matter he approved set the boundaries, while significant developments called for further consultation.

Netanyahu's trial began in May 2020 and covers three cases involving alleged gifts and dealings with media owners. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in all three. In Case 4000, he also faces a bribery charge, which concerns alleged regulatory benefits for Bezeq in exchange for intervention in the news coverage of Walla. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.