File photo
Photo: Reuters
AG asks police to delay recommendations on PM
Mandelblit wants police to hold off until state can respond to petition demanding police not to release recommendations against Netanyahu; inside sources say police not ready to release recommendations regardless.
Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit asked the police on Sunday to hold off on releasing their recommendations in the cases against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
During a meeting of top Justice Ministry officials and police investigators, Mandelblit asked the investigators to wait until the state has a chance to respond to a petition filed a month and a half ago by attorney Yossi Fuchs, who demanded police not to make recommendations concerning the prime minister.
The State Attorney's Office was ready to submit the response to the petition on Friday, but the police was not done formulating their own response, which in turn postponed the submission of the response until Monday.
Netanyahu and Mandelblit (file photo) (Photo: Reuters)
Inside sources said the police were not ready to make their recommendations in the next two days anyway, but the attorney general nevertheless sought to avoid a situation in which the recommendations are made before the state had the opportunity to respond to the petition.
A statement on behalf of the prime minister noted that "We are not familiar with this petition, which was apparently submitted a long time ago. It was of course not done on our behalf, and we were not aware of it. Regardless, we don't attach any importance to the recommendations, the value of which everyone now understands."
The police have been considering delaying the release of the recommendations in the wake of the weekend's escalation in the north.
Police Commissioner Roni Alsheikh met with the police's senior brass Wednesday evening to discuss the recommendations, with seeming consensus forming on recommending charging Netanyahu on the illicit gifts affair, as sufficient evidence exists to indict him for receiving bribes.
Several hours later, Netanyahu launched an unprecedented attack on Alsheikh, after the police chief accused "powerful" elements of trying to collect information about police officers involved in the investigations against the prime minister.
Over the weekend, Netanyahu and his aides have considered petitioning the High Court of Justice to prevent the publication of the police recommendations until the police chief's accusations are looked into.
