Rothman: Netanyahu trials benefit the national camp

Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman said Wednesday evening that the longer Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial continues, the more it works in favor of the national camp and reinforces its claims against the law-enforcement establishment.

Speaking on Galei Yisrael with Doron Cohen and Silvan Shalom on the "Evening Diary" program, Rothman said: "Every day that passes, the Netanyahu cases are the goose that lays golden eggs for the national camp."

According to Rothman, the ongoing focus on the cases does not harm the national camp as might have been expected, but instead provides it with repeated opportunities to address the way the law-enforcement system handled the investigations and the legal proceedings.

Rothman argued that the perspective on the affair needs to change. Instead of the Netanyahu cases continuing to focus on the prime minister's actions, he said, the spotlight should be turned on those who headed the law-enforcement system during the relevant period.

"The Netanyahu cases need to become the Mandelblit cases," the Constitution Committee chairman said. He immediately added: "They need to become the Alsheikh cases."

In his remarks, Rothman sought to present Netanyahu's trial not only as a proceeding concerning the prime minister, but also as one that raises, in his view, questions about the conduct of those who led the law-enforcement system. According to him, the longer the trial continues, the greater the need to shift the center of discussion to Mandelblit and Alsheikh.