Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana sent a dramatic letter Sunday evening to President Isaac Herzog, following his attendance at a court hearing in which former Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit gave testimony in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial.
In the letter, Ohana presented sharp criticism of the way the investigation was conducted and the indictment filed against Netanyahu. "I was shocked to discover from the testimony of the former attorney-general that even the remnants of the charges that still remain, after the panel of judges twice suggested to the prosecution that it withdraw the bribery charge, and thus they believe no such thing ever existed, are based on unlawful investigative actions, carried out without his knowledge and without his approval, without his having read the claims regarding the 315 instances of allegedly favorable media coverage appearing in the amended indictment, and he does not even remember whether he himself signed the amended indictment," Ohana wrote. "On the basis of all this, the most dramatic indictment in the history of the state was filed."
The Knesset speaker emphasized that this conduct exposes a chain of failures and shortcomings, and argued that this is not merely a media event but a matter that must lead to a decision on the pardon request. "It is evident from the position of the pardons department and from the actions of the legal counsel to the government, as reflected in the pardon recommendation submitted by Minister Eliyahu, as well as in the briefings they have given to the media in the months since the request was filed, that the system is determined to end the prime minister's political life and will agree only to a compromise that will bring about this result," he noted in the letter.
