Netanyahu trial judge asks how court can ignore Mandelblit's account of illegal acts

A judge hearing the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu challenged the prosecution on Wednesday over the scope of questioning allowed for former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit, asking how the court could disregard testimony from the former chief legal adviser about illegal actions. N12 reported that Judge Moshe Bar-Am told the prosecutor who opposed the defense's request: "We heard things that seemingly require deeper clarification."

The exchange came as the defense asked to question Mandelblit about investigative steps taken after he authorised the investigation of Netanyahu. Ynet reported that prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh objected to the request and cautioned the court against "opening the door" if Mandelblit were examined on the stand about those later actions.

What the defense is asking for

According to a report posted by journalist Amit Segal, attributed to Netanel Bandel, Netanyahu's lawyers had so far questioned Mandelblit about actions up to and including the stage at which he granted his approvals. The defense now wants to extend that questioning to investigative actions carried out after the approvals were given. The same report said the State Attorney's Office, the prosecution service, strongly opposes the request.

N12 said that Mandelblit's testimony on the day opened with the defense's request to examine him on investigative steps that followed his approval to open an investigation against Netanyahu.

The courtroom exchange

The Segal report gave a fuller account of the back and forth between the bench and the prosecution. Tirosh warned about the door being opened in any other case as well. Bar-Am answered that in this instance the door had already been opened: Mandelblit had testified, and the court had heard things that seemingly called for closer examination.

Tirosh replied, according to that account, that the court had a duty to keep the door as narrow as possible, limited to what was most necessary, namely the attorney general's approvals. Bar-Am then asked how it was possible to ignore the fact that the attorney general had come to court and was testifying about illegal actions.

The wording of the judge's question differs slightly across reports. An alert from Ynet framed it as a question about how one can disregard the former attorney general's testimony on illegal actions, while N12 and the Segal report quoted the longer version about the legal adviser coming to court and testifying about such actions. The substance is the same in all three.

Who the people involved are

In Israel, the attorney general serves as the government's chief legal adviser and also heads the public prosecution system. Under Israeli law, a criminal investigation of a sitting prime minister requires the attorney general's approval, which is why the approvals Mandelblit gave sit at the centre of the dispute over how far the questioning may go. Mandelblit held the post when the investigations into Netanyahu were opened and when the indictment against him was filed.

Netanyahu is on trial at the Jerusalem District Court on corruption charges, which he denies. Bar-Am is one of the three judges on the panel hearing the case. Tirosh is a senior prosecutor on the state's team.

"Opening the door" is a term used in courtroom argument for a situation in which testimony on one subject entitles the other side to question a witness on related matters that would otherwise be off limits. The prosecution's concern, as reported, is that allowing questions about post-approval investigative steps would widen the scope of the cross-examination; the judge's response was that Mandelblit's own testimony had already done so.

What the reports do not say

None of the reports says what illegal actions Mandelblit testified about, who allegedly carried them out, or when. The judge's remarks used the word "seemingly", and no report describes any finding by the court on the matter.

The reports also do not say whether the court ruled on the defense's request, or which specific investigative actions the defense wants to raise. Nor do they include any response from Mandelblit himself or from Netanyahu's legal team beyond the request as described.