Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu denied in an interview with the Hebrew-language Walla! News website that he intends to seek a plea bargain in his trial.
“Not at all. The only deal I want to reach is the 'Deal of the Century', which brings huge tidings to the State of Israel," said Netanyahu in the interview, which will be published in full on Saturday, denying claims by Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman that he is seeking such a deal.
"Absolutely not, and I rejected any attempt by journalists and others to promote such a thing," he argued. "I said, ‘I'm going to shatter all the delusional allegations and the futile cases against me.’ I demand full transparency. I demanded that in my hearing, but the Attorney General refused."
"But they also refuse to publish the Ashkenazi-Mandelblit tapes from the Harpaz affair," Netanyahu continued. "Until recently, they also refused to investigate the corruption case of Benny Gantz's Fifth Dimension. They did not investigate Yoav Segalovich, who disrupted investigative proceedings when he was head of the Investigation Division with his friend Gabi Ashkenazi. I demand that the gag order be lifted immediately. The public has a right to know."
Netanyahu stressed that if, after the election, the Supreme Court accepts a petition stating that he cannot form a government, "it will be an outrageous thing. In a democracy, the people decide who will lead the people."
The Prime Minister criticized Benny Gantz's ability to form a government and serve as Prime Minister, and referred extensively to the recordings published by Channel 12 News on Thursday of Gantz's adviser, Yisrael Bachar, in which Bachar doubted Gantz’s ability to lead.
"If someone is going to be Prime Minister, he must first be in a position to be able to face such things. In any case, the public should know."
He denied any connection to the recordings or to the rabbi who made them, even though it was published on Friday that Netanyahu met the rabbi this week.
“The person who cooked this up is Benny Gantz himself. In his weakness, in his hesitancy, in his leadership material," said the Prime Minister.
(Arutz Sheva’s North American desk is keeping you updated until the start of Shabbat in New York. The time posted automatically on all Arutz Sheva articles, however, is Israeli time.)