Not avenging, not blinking: Klein's testimony makes clear that Mandelblit's approach to the 1000 case was wrong from the beginning

The former ombudsman did not understand that a witness like Klein is rare - she is confident and does not hesitate. Waiting for the completion of the 4000 case could have cost him dearly.

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07/07/2022

Thursday, 07 July 2022, 10:42 Updated: 16:15

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In the video: The testimony of Hadas Klein, Arnon Milchen's personal assistant (Walla!) Continues.

"But it is perishable, but it is perishable," shouted Bnei Zipper, one of Benjamin Netanyahu's devoted soldiers in the media, in one of the studios yesterday, in his colorful voice.

This, when he tries to play one of the messages that have been coming out of Netanyahu's environment since she came on the witness stand, the main witness in the 1000 case, Hadas Klein.

"It's perishable," meaning cigars and champagne are perishable materials, so what are we dealing with it at all, or as Zipper put it, "Bubba Mayses" (Grandma's Stories).

This message about consumables has resonated since 2016 when the investigation of the 1000 case was opened. As I sat in the studio next to Zipper, I warned our viewers that despite Zipper's remarks, robbery of a chocolate factory or dairy products is strictly prohibited;

Not even stealing a popsicle from the writer, not even a lollipop, even though chocolate, a popsicle, and a lollipop (apart from the lollipop) are consumables.

For those of you who grin at Zipper's argument, the truth must be told.

The former attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, was also quite hostile at first to the 1000 case (and the Alpine case file).

He feels that the police investigators and attorneys for the Jerusalem district (the district that initially accompanied the case) are trying to force a case on him that he does not believe in.

In 2016 he was a new consultant who did not digest the champagne and cigars well in his stomach.

The story seemed too small to him even when all the sums were put together.

Prosecutors do not like to admit it, but there is great significance to how a case is marketed to the public.

In semi-legal language they call it "public interest", but in the end it's about marketing.

Not for nothing at the end of the road, when the indictment was filed, Mandelblit called the story of the 1000 case at the press conference: "supply line".

This marketing of the bag to the public was much more effective (and justified in this case), than the "gift bag", or the "cigar and champagne bag" (which by the way really faded very quickly in Netanyahu court).

The years did not affect her.

Hadas Klein (Photo: Flash 90, Olbia Fitoussi)

And back to the new adviser from 2016. "Bring me the interest," Mandelblit pleaded with investigators and prosecutors, although in their opinion there was no need to file an indictment against Netanyahu, as they said it was a forbidden gift on a huge scale.

Still, at the request of the consultant, the researchers deepened and found not one interest, but a variety of interests of the businessman, Arnon Milchen - the visa to the United States, the tax benefits for returning residents, the network of Keshet, and more.

Mandelblit finally came to life when he was born somewhere in the late 2017 case 4000, which he believed in from day one.

Then his attitude to all the cases changed, partly because they moved to the management of Adv. Liat Ben Ari from the District Attorney's Office of Taxation and Economics, in which he placed great trust unlike the lack of trust he acquired in the Jerusalem District Attorney's staff, especially Adv. Uri Korb (today Netanyahu, and in those days the most militant lawyer in Netanyahu's cases).

Mandelblit insisted that the three cases be filed in a consolidated indictment.

Pending the completion of the 4000 case investigation,

Perhaps Klein, who is, God willing, a physically and mentally healthy woman, has not been affected over the years, but experience shows that a delay in bringing witnesses, in complex cases, in court, causes great harm.

Witnesses repent (Lieberman case, for example), witnesses with serious illnesses do not come upon us and become incapable of testifying (Lieberman case, for example), Haim Garon died, until a lawsuit from the Ministry of Communications).

For this reason as well, and for a variety of other reasons, including the violation of public trust and the creation of torture for the defendants (even if in this case Netanyahu was happy about the delay), this smearing of time is unbearable and unforgivable.

More on Walla!

Netanyahu's fondness for the pleasures of life is not worthy of condemnation, but rather of appreciation

To the full article

Asked for envelopes and bags for the cigars.

Benjamin Netanyahu (Photo: Knesset Spokeswoman, Noam Moskowitz)

When Mandelblit had already been persuaded to file an indictment in the 1000 case, he did not accept the position of the accompanying prosecutor and the position of the then state attorney, Shai Nitzan, that the indictment should be filed for bribery, but was satisfied with the offense of breach of trust.

Contrary to the opinion of many of my colleagues, I am not convinced that she was wrong, even in the face of the ongoing and coherent testimony of Hadas Klein.

The friendship between Milchen and Netanyahu, although it is clear that it is saturated with deep interests, is much more distinct from the friendship between Netanyahu and Shaul Elowitz.

In practice, even if Mandelblit does not admit it, he made a simple and logical consideration that he would prefer Milchen as a prosecution witness in a safe case against Netanyahu, than as a defendant in an unsafe case, in the end the prosecution may come out bald from here and there.

This was not an unfounded decision.

On the other hand, Mandelblit's hesitation in this case (and also in the 2000 case), was conspicuous in the face of his overly confident confidence in my opinion, which was greatly influenced by Ben-Ari, in the 4000 case as a bribery case.

The two's infatuation with the 4000 case is reflected, among other things,

During the hearing yesterday, Mandelblit's latest mistake in the 1000 case cried out from Hall 315 in the Jerusalem District Court - the decision not to amend the indictment following Klein's new testimony about the $ 43,000 bracelet she said Sarah Netanyahu asked her to buy for her with their money Milchen and Packer.

A few months ago, Klein contacted Liat Ben-Ari, and told her this story, which led to the completion of an investigation.

She described, among other things, Netanyahu's reference to the bracelet ("he looks Romanian"), which raised suspicion of his awareness of the incident.

Klein explained to Ben-Ari and the investigators why she passed on the information so late - the advice given to her by her former lawyer, Boaz Ben-Zur, not to donate the information to the police.

Ben-Zur later became Netanyahu's lawyer.

Well, not only was the indictment not amended, the completion of the investigation was cut short after the McClain testimony was collected and after a phone call with Milchen.

Netanyahu, his wife and Packer were not questioned at all.

In light of all this, Adv. Amit Haddad yesterday objected to the presentation of questions on the subject to the community.

"My client has not defended himself in this matter," he said.

How could this story have been waived in the indictment, if only as a supportive story?

It is not clear.

The approach was wrong in the first place.

Mandelblit (Photo: Official Website, Bar Association)

From the beginning of this week it has been clear to anyone following the trial that Mandelblit's entire approach to the 1000 case was wrong in the first place.

What is the difference if you illegally received NIS 700,000 for champagne and cigars, or NIS 700,000 for free flights (for example, the Rashontours affair)?

Flights are also a consumable.

It reminds me of this childhood board puzzle that would have tripped many children with the wrong answer: which weighs more than a pound of iron or a pound of feathers?

Mandelblit did not understand that a witness like Klein is a rare witness - without interest, is in a special Archimedean point when on the one hand she does not stutter a word from her testimony, on the other hand she is not on a journey of revenge, since to this day she works for Milchen and talks to him every day.

She is confident, neither hesitant nor blinking.

This is how she behaved in her first interrogations.

The Netanyahu family may have harassed her with her requests, but she has never personally harmed her, Klein has no real reason to take revenge on her.

"You look angry," Judge Baram surprised Klein on Tuesday with an uncharacteristic question for judges, "I'm not angry," she replied, but did mention the fact that Ms. Netanyahu tried to drop false allegations about her and driver Jonathan Hasson about personal use of cigars and champagne.

Haddad will already take advantage of these things in the cross-examination, but even now it can be said that this will be a very weak claim, since Klein testified to the police even before she knew anything about Sarah Netanyahu's version before the investigators.

Represented Klein and moved on to Netanyahu.

Boaz Ben Tzur (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)

Klein did experience legal trauma when the lawyer, who trusted him completely and told him all her secrets about the Netanyahu couple, passed without blinking the fence to represent the same person who is the subject of the stories.

Ben-Zur promised the prosecution that he would withdraw from the 1000 case related to Klein.

Klein has never bought this story, and feels cheated to this day.

It is completely understandable.

But as stated all this is irrelevant, since all her testimony was given in real time, and who can testify to this more than Ben Tzur himself, who further asked her not to add information to investigators she was not asked to give - information worth tens of thousands of dollars.

Klein's testimony is replete with horror stories about Sarah Netanyahu, but as I recall, Ms. Netanyahu is not charged in the 1000 case (nor in the other thousands' cases).

The prosecution, of course, has to hold on to those passages from Klein's testimony that relate directly to Netanyahu, and in the last two days there have been quite a few.

As for cigars, it is simpler, since according to her testimony most of the purchases of cigars were for Netanyahu.

Milchen did not smoke these cigars, and the other guests she said did not touch them, except for former Mossad chief Yossi Cohen.

Besides, in some of the conversations she spoke with Netanyahu directly about the cigars, for example when he asked her for certain "green leaves" from Cuba.

He was furious at her, through Milchen, who brought him type 54 cigars and not 56 type as he wanted.

Netanyahu also asked her for envelopes and bags for these cigars.

"Drinking champagne on the way."

Sarah Netanyahu (Photo: Flash 90, Avshalom Shashoni)

The more difficult challenge for the prosecution is to prove Netanyahu's connection to the expensive champagnes, since the person who consumed them was Ms. Netanyahu.

The State Attorney's Office must prove that the couple is one piece in terms of receiving the benefits.

Ehud Olmert, for example, was charged in the Holyland case with bribery, including the amount he received from his brother in general (in this charge he was convicted in the district but wins the Supreme Court due to lack of evidence).

Prosecutor Alon Gildin asked Klein yesterday if Netanyahu knew about the champagne, to which she replied, among other things: "Champagne is also on the way; Jonathan also told me that he brought the champagne home and Netanyahu opened it. I know that when Netanyahu was out, we took out whole boxes. Besides, Netanyahu told me that they checked the legal advice regarding the champagne."

This leads us to an interesting story that Klein told yesterday.

It will be interesting to see how he handles this story in the cross-examination.

Adv. Amit Hadad (Photo: Reuven Castro)

When Klein began to show signs of discomfort to the prime minister's wife about buying champagne and jewelry, she said she received a screaming call from the lady, to which Netanyahu responded in his own conversation with Klein.

"He told me to explain to Arnon and James that he had checked it out legally and that it was okay," Klein testified.

This story is interesting because on the one hand it embodies Netanyahu's clear awareness of the benefits that Netanyahu received.

On the other hand, he also embodies one of Netanyahu's lines of defense, according to which he acted on the basis of legal advice.

It will be interesting to see how Adv. Amit Hadad will deal with this story in the cross-examination.

On the face of it, the testimony looks very promising in terms of the prosecution, but of course on the evening of each primary testimony there is a cross-examination.

Defense attorneys will argue that the amounts were inflated, that the cigars were also smoked by others, and that the amount was divided over a much longer period than the five years discussed in the indictment.

As stated, the defense attorneys will also claim that the champagne is irrelevant to Netanyahu, and that Klein's communication was done mainly with Ms. Netanyahu and not with the prime minister.

It is the duty of defense attorneys to do their job.

The public, however, is not supposed to speak in legal language, and many facts in this case will not be debated.

But of course the public reactions to Klein's testimony are to be expected in their misery.

After all, unlike the 4000 case, which is tangled in regulatory fibers and deals with more elusive terms such as "positive coverage" and "abnormal response", the 1000 case is a simple case.

Even someone who for some reason thinks he is not criminal, might have agreed that he is full of pigs and corruption in the classical sense (not necessarily criminal) - two capital tycoons, one with severe mental problems, and the other immersed in interests, exploited as much as possible by the couple.

In the heated pool, in the neighboring house in Caesarea, in cigars, champagne, jewelry, coats, what not?

These lemons that each for his own reasons wanted to run near the prime minister, were squeezed unconsciously.

In our corrupt public discourse, does one righteous person remain among the leaders of Netanyahu's public opinion to whisper, but a drop in the pitcher that we can hear, something about this bestiality?

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