It would be a good idea to examine the option of a plea bargain in the criminal trial hearings of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, President Isaac Herzog told The Jerusalem Post in an interview on Saturday night.
The full interview will be published in the Post’s Independence Day edition on Wednesday.
Herzog’s comment comes at a tense time in the trial, as the defense is nearly done wrapping up questioning Netanyahu as a main witness, and a cross-examination is set to begin. The cross-examination will allow the prosecution to sharpen the strongest points it made in the indictment, and also to challenge narratives presented by the defense.
Herzog referenced sentiments made in an interview that former Supreme Court chief justice Aharon Barak gave to KAN in March.
Due to the reforms he made in the early 1990s, Barak is the person many in favor of the judicial reform legislation blame for the state of the judiciary today. This sentiment received a boost since the coalition was formed in 2022, and it also pushed for reform legislation.
Barak told KAN that he was involved in attempts to advance a plea bargain for the prime minister.
Barak attempting to advance Netanyahu plea bargain
First, former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit wrapped up his term in 2022 after indicting Netanyahu. After this, Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara was appointed to the role by then-justice minister Gideon Sa’ar. It was at this stage that Barak and others pushed to try and string together a plea deal. Notably, this took place after the trial began in May 2020, before the major witnesses in the case were called.
Herzog said on Saturday evening that “if the two sides can get together and work through yet another painful issue in the Israeli public arena, I fully welcome that and think they should do it.”
The prosecution originally wanted to indict Netanyahu on bribery – the heaviest charge – in all three cases (1000, 2000, and 4000), but was talked down to applying this charge only to Case 4000.
Since the more significant witnesses had not yet been called when talks began circulating regarding a plea bargain, in a sense, a unique opportunity arose that probably would not have emerged again.
In the plea deal, the prosecution offered no jail time for the bribery charge, but the condition was that Netanyahu would have to resign due to moral turpitude, meaning he would have to step down as prime minister and leave politics for a while. Given his age, this would have meant bowing out of politics completely.
At the time, Netanyahu said he would be willing to admit and be convicted for breach of trust and fraud, but refused on the moral turpitude part. There was even a moment when his lawyers recommended he agree to it before the more significant witnesses were called, fearing what they would testify to.
Ultimately, the efforts fell apart, and the trial proceeded. Netanyahu will soon face cross-examination by the prosecution once the defense questioning ends.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.