Netanyahu may use plea bargain promoted by retired Justice Barak as launchpad for comeback

In a race against the clock, Attorney General Amihai Mandelblit has less than two weeks before he steps down to approve a plea bargain for releasing opposition leader Binyamin Netanyahu from a bribery charge and jail time, leaving only the lesser charges of breach of faith and fraud and community service. The charge of moral turpitude that would bar Netanyahu from public office for up to seven years remains to be thrashed out in negotiations for a deal, before the prosecution presents it to the district court.

But meanwhile, Mandelblit suddenly finds himself overwhelmed and outclassed by two extremely high-profile figures who are acting in concert. None other than Aharon Barak, highly esteemed as former chief justice, attorney general and state prosecutor, has entered the scene out of the blue to sponsor a plea bargain deal for the opposition leader, in the middle of the dragging Netanyahu corruption trial before the Jerusalem District Court.

The Netanyahu-Barak partnership has hit the political scene with the force of a thunderclap. Each has something to gain from a deal to cut short the ex-prime minister’s trial. Netanyahu, who has proclaimed his innocence long and loud, can’t foretell the court’s verdict. The legal fees of a drawn-out process could leave him financially ruined. He may decide that shortening the process is the lesser gamble. READ MORE