Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara is not interested in mediation in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial, prosecution staff on Thursday informed the defense. In late March, News12 journalist Ilana Dayan reported that the parties were considering going to criminal mediation. The idea was proposed, according to Dayan, by the attorney of Netanyahu’s co-defendant in Case 4000, Shaul Elovitch, and endorsed by at least one of the three-judge panel, Judge Oded Shaham (Report: Netanyahu’s Prosecutors Mulling Mediation as Trial May Fall Off Cliff).
According to Kan11 News, in the conversation between Netanyahu’s defense attorneys and the prosecutors this week, the latter stated there was no point in criminal mediation and that the trial should continue as planned.
“If Prime Minister Netanyahu is interested in a plea deal, he can contact the AG directly with a proposal, there’s no need for mediation by a judge,” the prosecution staff said.
It should be noted that a final and official decision has not yet been made regarding Judge Shaham’s suggestion, and it is expected to be made soon and delivered to the court.
On Sunday, the prosecution and the defense in Netanyahu’s trial reached an agreement on cutting short the list of prosecution witnesses by more than 60. The original number of prosecution witnesses was more than 300, but with the encouragement of Judge Shaham, many police and securities authority witnesses will now be dropped.
This means that within about a year, the prosecution will rest, and within a year and a half or so from that moment, the Prime Minister will take the witness stand at the beginning of the defense’s presentation.
Incidentally, in three weeks or so, prosecution witness Yair Lapid will take the stand, and in the cross-examination will likely have to detail his close relationship with the same two wealthy businessmen, Arnon Milchan and James Packer, from whom Netanyahu is accused of accepting bribes. Lapid will likely be asked to discuss his own special relationship with Milchan when Lapid was Finance Minister and the fact that under his authority Packer reportedly received an income tax waiver.
