Mandelblit
MandelblitFlash 90

Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit today submitted his response to petitions requesting that Prime Minister Netanyahu not be able to form the next government because of the pending cases against him.

In a statement issued by the Justice Department, the Attorney General asks that he be required to express his opinion only if the Supreme Court judges decide to discuss the issue.

"In Justice Grosskopf's decision of December 22, 2019, he actually instructed the Attorney General to submit his opinion on the matter. However, submitting the opinion is part of the remedies sought in the petition and the Court has not yet considered these remedies, all the more so whether it intends to discuss the issue on its merits. In these circumstances, and as long as no such decision has been reached, the Attorney General considers there to be no legal basis for him to submit a position on his behalf on the merits of matters, as the petitioners request, before holding a petition, and without issuing a provisional order and then a total order.

"In view of this, the Attorney General requests that a hearing be held by the court on the petition on December 31, 2019, in relation to whether to dismiss the petition outright or to discuss it on its merits," the statement read.

Mandelblit further states that if it is decided to discuss the petition on its merits, he will submit his opinion, after being given an appropriate period of time to draft it.

The court appearance was filed through the State Attorney General's Office Director Attorney Anar Hellman, and attorneys Ran Rosenberg and Udi Eitan.