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Netanyahu to court: Cancel indictments against me, they were unlawful

Netanyahu has been indicted in there cases: 1000, 2000 and 4000.

By David Isaac, World Israel News

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called for all the indictments against him to be dismissed on Sunday, Israel Hayom reported.

Netanyahu’s attorneys made the request to the Jerusalem District Court on his behalf. Their argument is that the investigation began without the written approval of the attorney general to conduct the investigation, as required by law.

“Since no approvals were lawfully given,” Netanyahu’s attorneys wrote the court, “and at most – approvals were issued after investigative actions were carried out in relation to each of the charges in the indictment – the indictment against the prime minister should be dismissed.”

Netanyahu has been indicted in there cases: 1000, 2000 and 4000.

In Case 2000, the approval was given a year after the investigation began, the attorneys say. In Case 4000, over 250 testimonies were collected before approval was given.

Israel Hayom reports, “In the 1000 and 2000 cases, the State Attorney’s Office claims that the permits were first issued on December 25, 2016; and in the 4000 case, the approval was given in early February 2018. According to Netanyahu’s lawyers, the investigations began long before that.”

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The attorneys note that in Case 4000 (considered the most serious of the three cases), the email of former Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitz was searched without permission as well.

“This search was not only carried out without the approval of the attorney general, but was carried out without an appropriate search warrant,” the attorneys said.

The rule that prohibits investigating the prime minister without the attorney general’s consent is codified in a Basic Law. Basic Laws are considered super-legal, or quasi-constitutional, laws.

According to the Basic Law in question: “A criminal investigation will not be opened against the prime minister unless with the consent of the attorney general.”

On Nov. 21, 2019, Attorney General Mandelblit indicted Netanyahu with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three different cases.

Netanyahu has rejected the charges and called the allegations part of a witch hunt, a coup by the media, police, prosecutors and justice system to oust him from power.