Mandelblit: Netanyahu's trial will be held on Monday, available to him for a month to request immunity

The court handed Knesset Speaker Edelstein the indictment against the prime minister, stating that the trial is expected to take place in the district court. Mandelblit made it clear that Netanyahu may apply for immunity within 30 days. Attached to the letter is a list of prosecution witnesses, which includes Yuval Diskin, Tamir Pardo and Yair Lapid, among others

Mandelblit: Netanyahu's trial will be held on Monday, available to him for a month to request immunity

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit on Monday indicted Knesset Speaker Yuli Edelstein against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The letter sent by the Justice to Edelstein states that the indictment will be filed with the Jerusalem District Court and a list of prosecution witness names will be included. As of today, Netanyahu has 30 days to apply for immunity. In response to the indictment, Netanyahu claimed that "the legal timetable is influenced by the political timetable."

"Due to inquiries received by the Attorney General's Office, including the prime minister's defense, and in good order, Counsel Mendelblit decided to indict the Speaker of the Knesset with an indictment including the list of prosecution witnesses," the Office of the Attorney General explained. "It was also stated, according to the unique local authority rules for an incumbent prime minister, that his place of filing is in the Jerusalem District Court."

Read the indictment against Netanyahu including the list of witnesses

Indictment filed for Knesset Speaker Netanyahu (Photo: Reuven Castro)

PM Benjamin Netanyahu at the Knesset Meeting, Knesset, November 18, 2019 (Photo: Reuven Castro)

The Attorney General made it clear that "as we see from these letters and in light of the arguments raised, the Israeli Prime Minister will seek to see today (December 2, 2019) today which states that the 30-day quorum may ask the Israeli Knesset to declare that he has immunity from Knesset to criminal law, That in order to avoid arguments on the subject and for the sake of cleanliness, I will not object. "

In the indictment filed by the Speaker of the Knesset, an appendix is ​​attached to the list of prosecution witnesses, which includes 333 politicians, businessmen and close associates of Netanyahu. Among the names are Arnon Milchan, James Packer, Tamir Pardo, Yuval Diskin, Yair Lapid, Tzipi Livni, and Knesset members from Likud rival Levin, Ze'ev Elkin and Tzachi Hanegbi.

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Netanyahu: "The Legal Schedule Is Affected by the Political"

In response, Netanyahu criticized the timing of the indictment two weeks ago, wondering: "If only today the prosecution filed an indictment against Prime Minister Netanyahu with the list of witnesses, what would be the way to present a missing and defective document to the Speaker without a witness list two weeks ago, Exactly the day when Benny Gantz returned the president's mandate to form a government? "

Netanyahu also added that "the hasty and deficient manner in which the document was submitted to the Speaker of the Knesset, when the indictment was not yet ready, seems to indicate a legal timetable influenced by a political schedule."

The prime minister also referred to the amount of prosecution witnesses in the indictment, saying that "the need for hundreds of witnesses indicates the difficulty of convincing the correctness of the allegations made against the prime minister. When there is a real claim, 333 witnesses should not, and when there is no real argument, 333 witnesses will not be helpful. "Like a nostalgic tribute to" Yellow Pages. "Spending a quarter of a billion shekels worldwide on cigars and some gossip stories in Walla. It's unbelievable."

"For the sake of cleanliness, I won't resist talking." Mandelblit (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Attorney General Avihai Mandelblit announces indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Two weeks ago, Mandelblit announced that he had decided to indict Netanyahu for offenses of bribery and fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000 (Bezeq-Yes case), and for fraud and breach of trust in files 1000 (Gift Case) and 2000 (Netanyahu case). He allegedly committed these offenses during his tenure as Prime Minister and Minister of Communications.

In a statement to the media, Mandelblit said "it is not a right or left issue" and that he made the decision "with a heavy heart - but wholeheartedly, out of a deep commitment to the rule of law and to Israeli citizens." He added: "This is not a political issue, but the duty that is imposed on us and me personally. This is not a choice. It is a duty to indict. This is the case for every citizen, and so I acted here."

In response to the indictments against him, Netanyahu made a statement to the media in which he attacked the State Prosecutor's Office and the police, calling their investigation process "polluting and raising questions". The prime minister called on his political rivals to show decency and demand that investigators investigate "must put an end to it. When such a sequence has to be dismantled. You must demand that the investigators be interrogated. It is time for the public to receive clear answers to all these cases: the contaminated investigations conducted against me, too. They didn't seek the truth, they sought me. "

(First Update: 13:12)