Retired judge urges issue of Netanyahu indictments despite election

Retired judge Yosef Shapira urged on Monday that the indictments against Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu should be issued despite the upcoming General Election, Arab48.com has reported.

State Comptroller Shapira’s remarks came amidst verbal attacks by Netanyahu’s Likud Party supporters on the Attorney General, Avichai Mendelblit, who announced recently that he will issue the completed indictments before the election in April.

“Beside our daily responsibilities for active work to maintain transparency, we have to remember that we have the duty to maintain the transparency of the election as well,” explained Shapira. “The election period is sensitive in general, but the current election is the most sensitive. As such, the sides [responsible for Netanyahu’s indictments] have to go forward in their measures and decisions… This is not easy, but it is possible.”

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Shapira added that he never delays the announcement of his findings and reports until after election periods. “The work policy of the state comptroller is to publicise reports whenever they are completed and not keep them in drawers due to certain issues not related to the formal deliberations.”

On Friday, Mendelblit said that there was no reason to stop him from publicising his decisions regarding Netanyahu’s corruption indictments before the election. The Prime Minister’s lawyer, apparently, has asked the Attorney General to delay the announcement until the election campaign is over.

According to Netanyahu and his supporters, Mendelblit is under pressure from left-wingers and the media in an effort to oust him and affect the choice available to Israeli voters during the General Election.

Netanyahu’s corruption scandal – Cartoon [Sabaaneh/MiddleEastMonitor]