T. Belman. Mandabilt’s reasoning is totally wrong. He betrayed democracy, not Netanyahu, by substituting his opinion for that of the electorate.
Dershowitz on Netanyahu trial: ‘Israel should be deeply ashamed’ (June 5, 2020)
Knesset would “never in a million years” make it a crime for politicians to push publications for more flattering media coverage “because if they did, half of the members of the Knesset would be in prison.”
“Israel is the first country in modern history to ever put a political leader on trial for trying to get good media coverage or trying to eliminate negative media coverage,” Dershowitz told i24. “If you want to try people on these offenses in cases 1000, 2000 and 4000, let the Knesset pass statutes.”
Transcripts of closed conversations held by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in the context of the indictments against opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu reveal the attorney general’s feelings about the former prime minister.
According to the transcripts, which were revealed by Channel 12 News, Mandelblit said that “Netanyahu endangered democracy, we were saved by the grace of heaven.”
“I saw the transformation into a place of personal loyalty, which means a danger to democracy. I grew up on Jabotinsky’s theory, this path begins with personal elections, and the government is meant to serve the individual. I think the one who recently led the country understood this no less well,” Mandelblit was quoted as saying.
Referring to the indictments against the Prime Minister he said, “This is a decision I had a difficult time with, even after that I did not believe it would go to such places, but without noticing we suddenly found ourselves in a war over the legitimacy of the Attorney General, the DNA of the Jewish people and the State of Israel.”
An associate of opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu responded: “These are messianic statements by a government official who decided to replace the people’s choice – no less. Mandelblit testifies that he came to overthrow Prime Minister Netanyahu, and confirms in his voice the words of State Witness Hefetz, who testified today that Case 4000 is a delusional political case that would not have come into being if the prime minister had not been Netanyahu.”
Mandelblit is actually saying Netanyahu is a threat to Communism
@Ted
Very kind of you to suggest. I am quite flattered.
@ Peloni
Your comments are always worth reading. Your insights and your prose are of the first order.
In reality, Medleblit perverted the justice system to enact a political coup, and to this end, his motives are meaningless. Can there be any greater threat to Democracy than this perversion of the authority of the highest ranking distributor of justice and political oversight? The motivation of the prosecution was never legitimately based on any intent beyond a political annihilation of the Prime Minister rather than the pursuit of justice, criminal activity or political abuse. His pursuit of his own agenda in this matter bent the power of his office towards a distorted focus with many consequences. Its harms were many and came to damage the Prime Minister, the govt, the State, the people and the very office he abused to achieve his goals. Democracy, in all its forms, requires a level playing field with an equal distribution of justice. To damage and destroy those in power and authority without cause is as damaging as any actions they might by chance uncover or elicit by their prey. Though this perverse use of legal means to achieve a political ends seems to be a battle among the powerful, it displays the wanton authority of a legal infrastructure that could be focused upon any person or group within the state. This rogue Attorney General should, by his own confessions, be warranted a just removal from office and prosecution for his actions by his successor.
This obvious abuse of power by the Attorney General was actually a perfect example upon which Mendleblit’s office should have legitimately investigated its own actions. This resulting lack of oversight to limit the damage stemming from a compulsive investigative obsession allowed him the unbridled authority to run amok for years, in full public view of his antics. It emboldened and motivated many dissident voices within the Israeli political structure, stimulating the greatest political impasse of governmental authority since the creation of the state. Consequently, to surpass this more than momentary state of political anarchy, every form of political norm was sent into a state of paralysis and chaos, ultimately leading to the elevation to great authority of political elements who do not even accept the state’s legitimacy as factual.
This is the mark of a rogue prosecutor’s awesome authority to seek out his prey without check or limit and label it for the public’s good. The question in their mind was never if they had met their burden of proof by any judicial standards, but rather if they could find any means of bringing down a single individual. The elevation of this single goal by this prosecutor to achieve his ends is the very antithesis of a legitimate democratic pursuit. It was neither justice, nor was it just. Justice, as with democracy, requires a level field upon which all players might act with full knowledge of the limits of their office and the consequences of their actions as per established laws. Relatedly, to be a just pursuit requires, first, a fair review, and then a fair judgment. The common thread throughout the pursuits of ice cream, champagne and legal inventiveness would seem to be the pursuits of a tyrant about its quarry. Regardless of the ultimate judgement passed down in these cases, there was nothing about Madelblit’s incessant pursuit of his own agenda in this matter that could be legitimately described as fair. The political pursuit of this prosecutor’s persecution has had quite a devastating effect.
Indeed, the use of political oversight to achieve electoral ends has been displayed by Mandelblit and others to portray a villainy within the very fabric of Western Democracy, disposed towards destabilizing democracies and the diminution of the values upon which every Democratic state is based.