Mandelblit Testimony: Police Approvals and the Limits of His Authorization

The trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hinges on a question of authorization: whether investigators crossed the lines of what former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit permitted, or merely operated within them. On Monday, Mandelblit returned to the Jerusalem District Court to answer that question for the defense team, led by lawyer Amit Hadad, who is pressing on which steps required Mandelblit's further consent.

Mandelblit approved the original investigations and later signed off on the indictment. He testified on Sunday that he ordered police to halt wiretapping on Natan Eshel, a confidant of the prime minister, once he learned of it. The operation had a court warrant, but Mandelblit said listening in on someone so close to the prime minister's personal and political affairs was sensitive enough that they should have sought his approval first.

The Monday hearing turned to the preliminary examination that became Case 1000, concerning gifts Netanyahu allegedly received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer, and actions he allegedly took to benefit Milchan. Hadad questioned whether investigators went beyond Mandelblit's authorization when they questioned Hadas Klein, Milchan's assistant, and Yonatan Hasson, Packer's driver, about the gifts.

Mandelblit said the questioning fell inside his broader permission to examine suspicions that Netanyahu received substantial benefits from businessmen. That permission stayed in force, he said, and investigators did not need to return to him for approval of each individual action.

Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked how investigators could tell which steps were covered by that authorization and which required additional consent. Mandelblit answered that the subject matter he approved set the boundaries, while developments of consequence 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 concerning alleged regulatory benefits for Bezeq in exchange for intervention in the news coverage of Walla. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing.

Mandelblit's testimony continues in the Jerusalem District Court.