Netanyahu's associates escalate campaign against legal system
Supporters of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu increase their campaign against the legal system, Attorney General Avichai Mandeblit and the courts.
No one really fell off their chair when it happened. The writing had been on the wall, the plans were in place and the marching orders had been given. On June 13, one of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s most ardent fans, journalist Boaz Golan, tweeted, “The indictment against Netanyahu is illegal because the person who filed it was picked for his job through subterfuge and in violation of the law. In any properly functioning country, such an indictment would have been annulled.” That “person” was Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit.
This first expected harbinger of spring signaled what many view, in fact, as a dark winter. The tweet opened the floodgates. Al-Monitor asked Knesset member Miki Zohar of the Likud party, the chair of the government coalition and the lawmaker closest to the prime minister, whether he too believes that the state should cancel the indictment against Netanyahu due to the cloud allegedly hanging over Mandelblit’s head. “The indictment must be annulled. There’s no doubt,” Zohar responded without missing a beat. There you have it — the cat is out of the bag. The ongoing campaign by Netanyahu’s supporters delegitimizing Israel’s entire law enforcement system has reached its decisive moment.
Before proceeding, let's make clear that no serious cloud hangs over the head of the attorney general. Journalists partial to Netanyahu have invested mammoth efforts in recent months in undermining Mandelblit’s credibility. Ignoring the fact that Netanyahu handpicked Mandelblit, personally, they now claim the appointment was tainted by lies and fraud. The fact that the man who appointed Mandelblit and who runs the country is himself standing criminal trial does not trouble them. They are focusing on the long-forgotten appointment and vetting procedures, which Mandelblit passed with flying colors and which Netanyahu signed and sealed.
Mandelblit was one of Netanyahu’s most trusted associates, his Cabinet secretary and a senior member of his inner sanctum. To undermine his 2016 appointment, Netanyahu’s followers have dusted off an obscure affair dating to Maj. Gen. (Res.) Mandelblit’s tenure as military advocate general, but without much success. The “exposes” published in recent months failed to come up with significant findings. The so-called Harpaz affair involved a faked 2010 document, with allegations surfacing that Mandelblit was aware of its existence and helped top army brass hinder the probe into its provenance. At the time, the allegations were examined ad nauseam, the Supreme Court cleared him of any wrongdoing and attempts to question the legality of his appointment failed.
