Three years after the indictment against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was filed, and with the trial not even halfway through, the parties are now considering whether to go to criminal mediation. This was reported this evening (Thursday) on Channel 12.
According to the report, Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara must formulate her position and respond to the Jerusalem District Court in the coming days.
It was also reported that Netanyahu's defense attorneys are not denying the proposal and announced that they will submit their response to the state at the same time.
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The proposal to go to mediation was raised in court, during discussions on the admissibility of materials that are currently being held behind closed doors.
Lawyer Jacques Chen, the attorney for businessman Shaul Elovitch, was the one who proposed the idea.
Judge Oded Shaham asked the state to consider the matter.
The goal of criminal mediation is to reach an agreed-upon plea agreement between the parties with the assistance of the court. The mediation is conducted behind closed doors, before a judge who is not hearing the main proceedings. The process allows for the streamlining of the criminal proceedings, while the parties reach agreements between themselves.
The mediator also has the authority to produce creative solutions to complex issues such as defamation. An agreement reached can also help the parties deal with public criticism.
However, the chance that such a procedure will move forward and result in a settlement is low, partly due to the lack of trust and numerous disputes between the prosecution and the defense.
Political commentator Amit Segal wrote:
Unlike a plea bargain, the only person who can offer mediation is the panel. In my humble opinion, the judges have had enough of this trial for a long time.
It is generally not recommended to draw conclusions from judges' comments, but those who follow Judge Bar-Am, for example, might have gotten the impression that he was in no hurry to buy some of the prosecution's central theses.
Last month, during a sabbatical for two of the judges, the mediation proposal was raised in 'technical' hearings held by Judge Shaham, behind closed doors.
