Report: Netanyahu’s prosecutor recommends indictment in two cases

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends an annual state memorial ceremony for Israel’s first prime minister, David Ben Gurion, at his gravesite in Sde Boker Israel, November 14, 2018. (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN/REUTERS)
The state prosecution team working on Cases 1000 (the Illegal Gifts Affair) and 2000 (the Yediot Ahronot-Yisrael Hayom Affair) against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for corruption has sent its recommendations to State Attorney Shai Nitzan, Channel 10 reported late Sunday.
The report suggested that Economic Crimes Division Director Liat Ben Ari’s recommendations were for an indictment against Netanyahu for bribery, which would be consistent with public comments she made in May 2017.
It is also expected that she and her prosecution team will send their recommendations to Nitzan shortly regarding Case 4000 (the Bezeq-Walla! Affair).
Nitzan then makes recommendations to Attorney-General Avicham Mandelblit, who makes the final decision.
The Jerusalem Post was the first to report in June that Mandelblit will likely decide on an indictment against Netanyahu for bribery at least for Case 4000, with a strong chance for Case 1000 and with Case 2000 being less clear.
In May 2017, Ben Ari told a conference on bribery that, “there is no such thing as gifts which are too small” to criminally investigate.
Ben-Ari then continued to tell the Tel Aviv Israel Bar Association audience that, “when we are referring to presents worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, it is hard for me to accept that we are talking solely about presents between friends.”
“I know that about myself and my friends, none of us receive presents of that value,” said Ben-Ari in answer to questions by panel moderators lawyers Yael Grossman and Ilan Shadi.
Ben-Ari was careful in May 2017 to state that every bribery and criminal case must be looked at in light of its specific circumstances, but the facts she described in her answer dovetail closely with those reported in the Netanyahu Case 1000.
Although Mandelblit makes the final call on whether to indict, Ben-Ari was the famous victorious lead prosecutor against former prime minister Ehud Olmert in the Holyland Affair and any recommendation from her to indict Netanyahu will be hard for Mandelblit to reject.
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