Former attorney general Mandelblit ordered wiretapping halted — Jerusalem Post

In Jerusalem, former Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit said at the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that he ordered the wiretapping of Netanyahu associate Natan Eshel to be halted. According to the Jerusalem Post, Mandelblit believed investigators should have obtained his permission in advance for such an operation.

Wiretapping without approval

Mandelblit testified at the Jerusalem District Court for a sixth day. He explained that police had a court warrant for the wiretapping, but he had not been informed about the operation in advance. According to the former attorney general, wiretapping a person who handled Netanyahu's personal, political and diplomatic affairs could have resulted in the recording of sensitive conversations.

After learning about the operation, Mandelblit said he was "very angry" and ordered the surveillance stopped. He could not recall whether the intercepted conversations contained specific political material.

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Positions of the defense and prosecution

Netanyahu's lawyer Amit Hadad argued that the real target of the wiretapping was the prime minister and that Eshel was a means of listening to his conversations. Prosecutor Keren Tzviran objected, saying that the warrant concerned suspicions against Eshel himself, and that references to Netanyahu did not mean that all possible offenses listed in the document concerned the prime minister.

During the questioning, the limits of Mandelblit's authorizations for investigative actions were also raised. He stated that he had authorized the directions of the investigation but did not require each individual police action to be coordinated with him.

Hadad also asked separately about the initial stage of Case 1000, which concerns expensive gifts allegedly received by Netanyahu from wealthy businessmen. The prime minister is accused in this case of fraud and breach of trust; he denies guilt. The lawyer suggested that investigators may have exceeded the scope of authorization while examining an apartment linked to businessman James Packer and gifts from Arnon Milchan. Mandelblit replied that he did not remember the detailed instructions in question and did not recall investigators acting contrary to such restrictions.