Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Prosecutor Amit Eisman responded positively early Monday to President Isaac Herzog’s request regarding the possibility of reaching a plea bargain in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cases.
The Attorney General stated that the State appreciates the President’s efforts to bring the cases to a conclusion via a deal, and that she is willing to conduct substantive talks with the defense team in order to examine the feasibility of such a move.
According to the letter, the talks aimed at formulating a plea bargain will take place without any preconditions from either side. It was also emphasized that the contacts will be conducted “in parallel" with the ongoing trial, without harming or delaying the court’s schedule.
At this stage, the State is refraining from addressing the technical and substantive details of the expected talks, including the format of the meetings, the identity of the participants, the location of the discussions, or the specific legal issues to be addressed.
Last week, the President’s legal adviser, Michal Tsuk-Shafir, approached both sides in the cases against Netanyahu and invited them to engage in “contacts aimed at reaching agreements."
The President’s Residence stated that “this process is intended to examine the possibility of advancing understandings and agreements, and constitutes only a preliminary stage before the President holds a discussion on the pardon request itself. The sides were asked to come promptly, in good faith and with proper intentions. It was made clear to the parties that agreeing to the invitation does not imply any consent or approval on their part regarding any disputed matter in court."
Tsuk wrote to the parties: “The President of the State, after consulting with me, believes that before considering the exercise of his authority regarding the request submitted in the matter of the Prime Minister, the possibility of holding contacts between the sides in order to reach agreements should be exhausted."
She added, “It seems there is no dispute over the value of holding a conciliatory dialogue that ends in an agreement. This procedure is considered proper and efficient in the eyes of the courts as well, all the more so in matters at the heart of public debate in Israel. The President has repeatedly expressed his support for dialogue directed at reaching agreements between the parties."
She invited the Prime Minister’s attorneys and the prosecutors to come to the President’s Residence “in good faith and with proper intentions," and stressed that each side “enters the room free of any commitments or preconditions."