Mandelblit rejects Netanyahu hearing delay request

Avichai Mandelblit and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Yediot Ahronot
Avichai Mandelblit and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Yediot Ahronot

The hearing will go ahead as planned on October 2.

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit has rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request for another postponement of his hearing in cases 1000, 2000, and 4000.

On May 22, Mandelblit announced that the meetings for Netanyahu's hearing would be held on October 2 and October 3, 2019, not July 10, as originally scheduled. The Attorney General further said that if necessary, another day of discussions would be held the following week, but no later than that. He instructed Netanyahu's lawyers to deliver their main arguments to him in writing no later than two weeks before October 2. The Attorney General rejected Netanyahu's request to postpone the hearing for an entire year, saying that such a long postponement was against the public interest.

Netanyahu wants another postponement, claiming that the new elections announced will take up most of his time and prevent him from properly preparing for the hearing. For his part, the Attorney General is determined not to allow another postponement.

At the same time, however, Mandelblit is asking the High Court of Justice to dismiss a petition by the Movement for Quality Government demanding that he hold Netanyahu's hearing immediately. Mandelblit today submitted his preliminary response to the petition, arguing that the petition should be dismissed out of hand in the absence of any grounds for court intervention in the hearing date. The Attorney General's response states, "This matter involved in a procedural one at the heart of the prosecution's discretionary powers in how to conduct criminal proceedings."

Presumption of innocence: The legal proceedings in the case of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu are still in the early stages. He denies what has been attributed to him, and is entitled to a presumption of innocence.

Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on June 6, 2019

© Copyright of Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd. 2019

Avichai Mandelblit and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Yediot Ahronot
Avichai Mandelblit and Benjamin Netanyahu Photo: Yediot Ahronot
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