Who are the prosecutors in Netanyahu’s bribery trial?
Team expected to run prime minister’s trial are lesser known but powerful
The prosecutors expected to run Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial are not Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit and former state attorney Shai Nitzan. They are lesser known but potentially as powerful – Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben Ari, Tel Aviv Economic Crimes Division Deputy Chief Yonatan Tadmor and Securities Crimes Chief Yehudit Tirosh.
Ben Ari is leading the team and argued on behalf of the prosecution at the opening of Netanyahu’s trial on May 24.
In court, she speaks with an obvious sense of confidence and seniority. This is something she has earned as the lead prosecutor against former prime minister Ehud Olmert during the Holyland trial in the Tel Aviv District Court.
At the same time, she is not nearly as aggressive and confrontational as former prosecutor Uri Korb, who prosecuted Olmert in the separate Jerusalem corruption trial.
Tadmor is a bit more aggressive when it comes to confronting witnesses. It is possible that he may handle some key cross-examinations even if Ben Ari gives the opening statement and makes the main strategic decisions.
In May 2017, Ben Ari made waves at an Israel Bar Association event when she gave the first hint that Netanyahu could be indicted in Case 1000, “the Illegal Gifts Affair,” even if there was no “quid pro quo,” meaning he did not give anything directly in return.
More specifically, she said, “there is no such thing as gifts that are too small” to criminally investigate.
“When we are referring to presents worth hundreds of thousands of shekels,” she continued, “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.”
Her statement was especially significant, because it came around eight months before
the police recommended indicting Netanyahu.
It was also long before the prime minister was even a suspect in Case 4000, “the Bezeq-Walla Affair” – the case which tipped Mandelblit over into being ready to confront Netanyahu.
From the beginning, this