Dramatic development in Netanyahu trial

Dramatic development in Netanyahu trial: Document showed there was no basis to investigate Netanyahu — yet the investigation moved forward.

A major development emerged today in Case 4000 after Netanyahu's lawyer presented the original internal document from October 2017.

The document stated that there was “no basis to open an investigation against the prime minister” into the broader suspicions raised in the Bezeq case.

The problem: in 2021, former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit submitted a memo to the court saying that on that same date he had approved examining suspicions involving Netanyahu — and that his approval was documented.

Today, when confronted with the original material, Mandelblit acknowledged that the document shown was not itself an approval to investigate Netanyahu. He maintains that approval was given later.

Why this matters: Israeli law requires the attorney general's consent before opening a criminal investigation against a sitting prime minister. Netanyahu's defense can now argue that investigators moved against him before the required approval was given, even though the internal record at that stage said there was no basis for a broader investigation against him.

If the judges accept that argument, it could help the defense challenge investigative steps and evidence gathered during that period. It does not automatically cancel Case 4000, but it gives Netanyahu's defense significant new material in its claim that parts of the case were built improperly.

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