A-G sparks another Netanyahu-Gantz clash

Mandelblit to comptroller c’tee: Don’t approve NIS 10m. from tycoon to pay PM’s legal bill

Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit on Tuesday told the comptroller committee it should not approve Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for up to NIS 10 million of his legal fees in his public corruption trial to be funded by American tycoon ally Spencer Partrich.

Mandelblit said it was not permitted mostly because of the amount and the longterm political-businessman relations that Netanyahu and Partrich have, as opposed to just being close friends.

In response, a source close to Netanyahu said: “The more the improper actions of the attorney-general are revealed on tape, the more he continues his scandalous persecution of the prime minister and the Right.”

“The conflict of interest of the attorney-general screams to high heaven,” the source said. “On the one hand, he issues ideas against the prime minister, and on the other, he does everything to harm the prime minister’s defense.”

Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz responded by giving full support to Mandelblit’s decision and all law-enforcement authorities.

“They will continue to do their job without fear and with professionalism and determination,” he said. “We formed the government in light of the coronavirus, and that is what it will deal with.”

Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn said: “Mandelblit does not persecute anyone; he does his job. An attack on the ‘gatekeepers’ harms democracy, and the weakening of democracy will harm the rights of every citizen in the State of Israel.”

Opposition leader Yair Lapid said: “The wild incitement of the prime minister against the attorney-general and the rule of law continues. This will end in blood. Whoever is silent and gives it legitimacy is responsible.”

In February, a new comptroller committee, viewed by observers as more friendly to Netanyahu than the previous panel, held hearings on the issue.

Eventually, the committee requested that Mandelblit give his view before it reaches a decision.

The committee also had asked if Partrich’s role as a fact witness, however minor, in the upcoming bribery trial pending against Netanyahu was an issue.

Mandelblit noted this issue on Tuesday, but he gave the relationship issue more significance.

The panel had grabbed headlines when it agreed to rehear the issues, even though the previous committee under the previous comptroller had rejected the exact same request multiple times.

Mandelblit and State Comptroller Matanyahu Englman authorized Netanyahu in September 2019 to receive a NIS 2m. loan from Partrich. But

on Tuesday, Mandelblit said a donation of NIS 10m. was different than a loan of only NIS 2m.

The previous comptroller committee denied Netanyahu’s request for having his legal defense funded by tycoons on three separate occasions due to concerns about his refusal to make certain financial disclosures as well as the picture of getting money from tycoons to defend charges for his allegedly receiving illegal gifts from tycoons.

The Movement for the Quality of Government in Israel has petitioned the High Court of Justice to argue the committee was in Netanyahu’s pocket and could not retract its previous rulings against him. But the High Court has preferred to stay out of the issue.

The most recent rejection of Netanyahu’s request for help from tycoons came in June 2019.