Posted on 01/13/22
| News Source: Arutz-7
Prosecutors are prepared to make major concession to Opposition Leader Benjamin Netanyahu in order to secure a plea bargain, according to report Thursday night by Channel 12’s Guy Peleg.
On Wednesday, Channel 13 reported that Netanyahu is engaging in negotiations with Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit for a possible plea bargain. Netanyahu is said to have agreed to Mandelblit’s demand that he resign from the Knesset before being convicted, and to leave politics for several years.
Mandelblit also reportedly demanded that Netanyahu be given a minimum sentence of at least community service and an admission of moral turpitude, which could hinder Netanyahu’s return to politics.
Now it appears that prosecutors are willing to make far-reaching concessions as part of a plea bargain arrangement, including rewriting the “Case 4000” indictment - which in its current form includes one charge of bribery, the most serious charges Netanyahu currently faces in any of the indictments against him.
According to the Channel 12 report Thursday, prosecutors are willing to drop the bribery charge and instead focusing only on the breach of trust charges in the indictment.
The report claimed that prosecutors are even prepared to close “Case 2000” entirely, dropping all charges related to accusations that Netanyahu and Yedioth Aharonoth publisher Arnon Mozes made an arrangement to push legislation limiting the free distribution of a rival newspaper in exchange for favorable coverage of Netanyahu.
In the Case 1000 indictment – relating to claims Netanyahu and his family received hundreds of thousands of dollars in gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for assistance in securing tax breaks and travel visas – prosecutors are reportedly willing to remove the fraud charge.
The changes prosecutors have offered to make in the event a plea bargain is reached would effectively end any possibility of Netanyahu being given a prison sentence.
Talks between Netanyahu and prosecutors have yet to reach an agreement over the timing of Netanyahu’s resignation from the Knesset – a key point in the negotiations and a factor which could potentially end the former premier’s political career.
If Netanyahu resigns from the Knesset before the plea bargain is put into effect by the court and his conviction finalized, he will likely be able to avoid the designation of moral turpitude, thus allowing him to potentially return to political life at some point in the future.
But if Netanyahu resigns only after his conviction, prosecutors will be free to request that the court apply the designation of moral turpitude.