Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Shaul and Iris Elovitch asked Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara on Wednesday to state whether the prosecution will withdraw the bribery charge in Case 4000, arguing that the unresolved question is preventing them from properly planning the remainder of the defense case.
In a joint notice filed with the Jerusalem District Court, attorneys Amit Hadad and Jacques Chen said Baharav-Miara’s position could substantially affect which witnesses and evidence the defense must present, particularly as the court prepares to expand the trial schedule to five hearing days a week beginning in October.
The request follows the court’s June 29 clarification that, after hearing Netanyahu’s testimony and cross-examination, its position from three years earlier “remains unchanged.”
In June 2023, Judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham said there were difficulties in substantiating the bribery offense in the first count of the indictment, which concerns Case 4000, and suggested that the state consider withdrawing the charge.
Judges have asked to withdraw Case 4000 before
The prosecution responded at the time that it viewed the evidence differently, that the judges had heard only part of the picture, and that further issues were expected to arise during the defense case.
