BICOM

State prosecutors will today share evidence with Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team in the cases in which he is expected to be indicted.

Netanyahu is a suspect in three criminal cases and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit announced in February that he intended to indict Netanyahu for bribery, fraud and breach of trust, pending a hearing. At the time, the Prime Minister’s lawyers asked Mandelblit to freeze the hearing process and not share the evidence, citing fears of leaks to the media during the election campaign.

The handover of evidence today will mark the beginning of Netanyahu’s preparation time for a pre-indictment hearing, which can last no longer than three months. The Prime Minister has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing and claims the investigations are part of efforts by the media and political Left to remove him from power.

There is now speculation that Netanyahu will now try to propose legislation to protect him from prosecution. However, senior Likud members have spoken out against such a move, including Minister Gilad Erdan, who said in an interview last week: “He promised he wouldn’t try, and if a proposal like this comes up from others in the Knesset, I’ll oppose it.”

Netanyahu appeared to reject the idea of an immunity law, telling Channel 12 News that he would be saved from prosecution by: “The facts themselves … everything will be thrown out in the hearing. I still haven’t said a word in my defence, a single word … it’s all poppycock”.

According to the 1951 Knesset Members Immunity, Rights and Duties Law, Knesset members have the power to grant immunity to a sitting MK if a majority are convinced the defendant has been treated unfairly and the charges are discriminatory or were filed in bad faith.

Netanyahu was charged, pending a hearing, with bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000, and with fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000. Case 4000 is considered the most serious, in which Netanyahu is accused of advancing regulatory concessions to Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Bezeq telecommunications, in exchange for favourable news reports in the Walla news website, which is also owned by Elovitch.