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Mandelblit: No postponing an announcement of possible Netanyahu indictment

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said that pushing the announcement of a decision due to the prime minister’s concern it could politically damage him would be intervening in the elections.

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit speaks at the Globes business newspaper Conference at the Jerusalem Convention Center on Dec. 20, 2018. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.
Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit speaks at the Globes business newspaper Conference at the Jerusalem Convention Center on Dec. 20, 2018. Credit: Yonatan Sindel/Flash90.

Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit said on Friday that he has rejected Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone an announcement related to the possible indictment of the prime minister on corruption allegations until after the April 9 elections so that there would be no “intervention.”

Mandelblit said pushing the announcement of his decision due to the prime minister’s concern it could politically damage him would itself be intervening in the elections.

“This process has already been decided, even before the decision to advance the elections, and there is no justification to deviate from it,” said Mandelblit.

In December, Israel’s Police Department recommended indicting Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The Netanyahu’s are accused of trading favorable government treatment of the Bezeq communications company in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site, both owned by Shaul Elovitch.

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