Elbashan on Mandelblit testimony: "I'm not shocked"

Prof. Yuval Elbashan responded Tuesday on Galei Israel radio to the dramatic testimony of Avichai Mandelblit in the Netanyahu trial, arguing that he does not believe the indictments will be dismissed.

"I say this as someone who has been in the legal world since 1992, not since yesterday: there is no chance of an event like 'defense from justice' and dismissal of the indictment happening. And this is not to Netanyahu's detriment, it's to the shame of the court. The judges won't accept it because they can't accept it. And why can't they accept it? Because if they accept it, it means the prosecution and the state attorney's office collapse," Elbashan explained.

Elbashan went on to address the claim that Netanyahu is also seeking to influence public opinion: "I have no complaints at all about using this, on the contrary. I write that the state was the first to make use of this in 2019, when they deliberately released it six weeks before the election."

Host Yotam Zimri reacted angrily: "You're playing innocent. Sparks should be flying from your head. Your article should be: how many years do you think Mandelblit should get in prison."

"The event here is that they dragged a country into five years of trials. You see testimony from the attorney general, who was basically a 'tea server' and didn't know what they were doing and doesn't know what they're doing... and you're dealing with whether the consideration for defense from justice is vis-à-vis the voter? Where is your outrage?"

Elbashan admitted: "It's possible that I'm already so used to these systems that I'm not shocked. Sorry to say this, Yotam, but I didn't discover criminal law with Netanyahu. I've been accompanying people through this."