Attorney-General tells High Court he will decide Sara Netanyahu cases soon

The attorney-general explained that since he would make the decision soon and since, as attorney-general, he is granted wide discretion about the timing of when he decides whether to indict.

By YONAH JEREMY BOB
Updated: AUGUST 23, 2017 23:55
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his wife Sara (C) (photo credit: REUTERS)
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (R) and his wife Sara (C)
(photo credit: REUTERS)
Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit’s office on Wednesday told the High Court of Justice that he will decide Sara Netanyahu’s fate in the various criminal cases against her in the very near future.
Mandelblit’s letter to the High Court was in response to a petition filed by Haaretz journalist Uri Misgav.
Misgav’s petition sought to get the court to order Mandelblit either to make an immediate decision about whether to indict Mrs. Netanyahu or to make one by a near-future court-set deadline.
The attorney-general explained that since he would make the decision soon and since, as attorney-general, he is granted wide discretion about the timing of when he decides whether to indict or close a case, Misgav’s petition should be dismissed.
More specifically, Mandelblit mentioned that State Attorney Shai Nitzan’s recommendation for the case was placed on his desk for the first time in July.
He said that in the second half of July, he had held meetings with Nitzan and other top prosecution officials.
From these meetings, Mandelblit revealed that the police had been asked to undertake a small number of targeted additional investigatory tasks, which had just recently been completed.
Recent reports indicated that Mandelblit was leaning toward indicting Sara Netanyahu.
Investigators have questioned Netanyahu several times regarding the cases against her, most recently in December.