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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has decided to carry out a major overhaul of his defense team as part of a series of corruption investigations, replacing his lead counsel, while prosecutors and the Attorney General decided if there was reason to indict him.
Analysts at Hadashot TV speculated on Thursday that the changes were a sign that the prime minister thought his corruption cases would soon be brought to court.
In the future, Netanyahu will be represented by lawyer Navot Tel-Zur, an experienced advocate of court officials, including former prime ministers Ehud Olmert and Ehud Barak and the Minister of the Interior Aryeh Deri, said the report.
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Oded Mudrick, a former Tel Aviv District Court Judge, also joins the team as an advisor. Mudrick is a longtime colleague of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, who will make the final decision on the timeliness of indicting Netanyahu, having served with him in the past as a Judge of the Forces Internal Justice System. Israeli Defense Forces.
Amit Hadad, who led Netanyahu's defense team, will remain on board with reduced capacity.
Navot Tel-Zur at the Supreme Court of Jerusalem on February 9, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel / Flash90)
These appointments occur more than a month after the death of Yaakov Weinroth, one of Israel's most prominent lawyers and one of Netanyahu's representatives in corruption investigations.
Earlier this week, Israeli television announced that the prosecutor charged with overseeing and reviewing the corruption charges against Netanyahu felt that there was sufficient evidence to charge him in at least two of the three cases of which he was a victim.
The head of the state's tax and finance department, Liat Ben Ari, presented her final recommendations in cases 1000 and 2000 to state prosecutor Shai Nitzan, Channel 10 reported on Sunday.
Among the findings, said the report, a recommendation to judge Netanyahu on charges of corruption in the case 1000, in which the Prime Minister would be suspected of receiving compensation of about one million NIS (282,000 USD) from billionaire benefactors, including Israeli producer Arnon Milchan from Hollywood, in exchange for badistance on various issues. Ben Ari baderted that there was enough evidence to file an indictment, the report said on television, without specifying however what charges she had recommended to Netanyahu.
A day later, the network reported that Ben Ari believed that there was sufficient evidence to charge the perpetrators of Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth, Arnon "Noni" Mozes, for corruption in the 2000 case.
Arnon 'Noni' Mozes, publisher and owner of the newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, arrives for interrogation at the Lahav 433 investigation unit in Lod on January 15, 2017. (Koko / Flash90)
The case concerns an alleged quid pro quo illicit deal between Netanyahu and Mozes that would have seen the prime minister hobble a rival daily newspaper, the freebie backed by Sheldon Adelson, Israel Hayom, in exchange for more coverage. favor of Yedioth.
Under the so-called agreement between Mozes and Netanyahu, which has not been implemented, the Prime Minister announced that he would push forward the measures to curb Israel Hayom's circulation if Mozes was giving to instruct his journalists and editors to reduce their often negative attitude towards him.
In February, the police had recommended that Netanyahu be charged in both cases.
In these recommendations, the police said that from 2009, "Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes held personal conversations and meetings during which they discussed helping each other as a counterpart to advance their respective interests ".
They said Netanyahu had offered support for possible measures, such as the closure of Israel Hayom, the reduction in the number of newspaper editions and the removal of the weekend edition of the free daily newspaper. Moreover, the investigation revealed "that the parties had actually taken concrete measures to defend the interests of the other in the continuation of the agreements concluded between them or, at least, had presented themselves as if they had acted in that way. ".
In addition, "the Prime Minister acted as the editor's agent Yedioth Ahronoth to other businessmen for the purchase of Yedioth Ahronoth, while he was Minister of Communications, "the police said.
Ben Ari's recommendations will now be reviewed by Attorney General Shai Nitzan, who will then make a final recommendation to Attorney General Mandelblit, before the latter decides whether to charge the Prime Minister.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit at a cabinet meeting in July 2015, while Mandelblit was the cabinet secretary. (Emil Salman / Pool)
However, Mandelblit has already announced that a final decision on the indictments in both cases would only be taken in conjunction with the findings of another ongoing investigation, the 4000 case.
In this case, Netanyahu is suspected of advancing regulatory decisions as Minister of Communication and Prime Minister in favor of Shaul Elovich, majority shareholder of Bezeq, the country's largest telecommunications company, in exchange for positive coverage on Elovitch's news site, Walla.
The investigation was reopened, a report from Kan's public broadcaster announced last week due to new information. This development should delay any decision of prosecutors regarding the filing of indictments against the Prime Minister.
Netanyahu was questioned 12 times about various suspicions of corruption, most recently in August as part of the 4000 case investigation.
Once the police have completed their work in this investigation, they will submit their findings and recommendations to the prosecutors, who will then submit them to the Attorney General.
Netanyahu has long denied any wrongdoing in all three cases.
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