Netanyahu slams attorney general for “unprecedented” interview

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu furiously lashed Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit for his purported comments to TV news reporters Saturday night which he called “unprecedented” and “disturbing.” In the TV interview, “associates” of the AG were quoted as saying he had already decided to indict the prime minister in one of the three separate cases against him, namely 4000, in which he is suspected of trading regulatory benefits for favorable news coverage. Netanyahu said Mandeblit’s decision to speak to the TV channel “is unprecedented in the history of the Israeli judiciary and raises serious questions.”

Before leaving for his one-day trip to Chad, the prime minister said he would have some “grave words” to say to the attorney general upon his return.  Mandelblit, who has scheduled a hearing for the prime minister’ counsel this week, has yet to indicate whether he will indict Netanyahu on allegations of corruption and, if so, whether before or after the April 9 general election. The Likud has warned that  indictment before the election would count as unwarranted influence on the outcome. “For three years the Left and the media have been pushing the attorney general to file charges at any price,” Netanyahu said in a Twitter message. Until now, he has not directly criticized the attorney general.