Mandelblit Back On Stand Over Netanyahu Probe Approvals

Former attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit returned to the Jerusalem District Court on Monday, October 26, 2026, to answer defense questions about the approvals he gave police during the investigation of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mandelblit authorized those probes and later signed off on the indictment. He is testifying for the defense. Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, asked him what police were permitted to examine and which steps required his further consent.

The questioning on Monday focused on the inquiry that became Case 1000. That case covers gifts Netanyahu allegedly received from businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer, plus steps he allegedly took for Milchan. Hadad asked whether investigators exceeded their authorization when they interviewed Hadas Klein, Milchan's assistant, and Yonatan Hasson, Packer's driver, about those gifts. Mandelblit said the interviews stayed within his permission to look into suspicions that Netanyahu took substantial benefits from businessmen. That permission remained active, he said, and investigators did not have to return to him to approve each individual action.

Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked how investigators could tell which steps fell under that authorization and which would need added consent. Mandelblit answered that the subject matter he approved set the boundaries, while major developments called for further consultation.

On Sunday, October 25, Mandelblit told the court he ordered police to stop wiretapping Natan Eshel, a confidant of Netanyahu, once he learned of it. Investigators held a court warrant for the wiretap, but Mandelblit said listening in on someone so involved in the prime minister's personal and political affairs was sensitive enough that they should have sought his approval first.

Netanyahu's trial started in May 2020 and involves three cases about gifts and dealings with media owners. He faces fraud and breach of trust charges in all three. Case 4000 also carries a bribery charge concerning alleged regulatory benefits for Bezeq tied to intervention in Walla's news coverage. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. Testimony in the trial is ongoing.

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