Ben Ari to the Attorney General's Office: The case against me was closed, reality proved that what I said was true

October 25, 2023   

Attorneys Zion Amir and Moshe Ploski of Mhonenu today (Wednesday) appealed to State Attorney Amit Isman with a request to order the closure of the investigation file against former Knesset member Dr. Michael Ben Ari.

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The comments come after about four years in which the case has been open, and after a hearing was held in the case about a year ago - and so far no decision has been made on the matter. Attorney Amir attacked the torture of the trial and said: "They are holding former MK Ben Ari by the throat. There is no factual, legal or public justification for leaving a case open for so many years without receiving a decision." The referral comes in light of the fighting in the south, where it became clear that Ben Ari's statements, for which the investigation file was opened against him, turned out to be true. In their letter, lawyers Amir and Polsky say that if no response is received within 14 days, they intend to appeal to the High Court of Justice in order to bring an end to the torture of justice in the case. In their letter, Ben Ari's lawyers write: "At this time, the State of Israel and its citizens are in the midst of a defensive war, a difficult existential campaign, in which the citizens of the State of Israel have been attacked by cruel, murderous terrorists, lower than animals of the field, with cruelty that was inconceivable even among human beings, and which has led to the murder of elderly people, women and babies, and the kidnapping of innocent civilians, children and the elderly, to Gaza, while committing war crimes, and horrific acts of rape, and the number of those murdered and injured reaches thousands. "Unfortunately and heartbreakingly, the terrible reality and cruelty to which we were exposed exceeded even Dr. Ben Ari's gloomy predictions," his lawyers write in a letter to the State Attorney. The lawyers refer to sections from the indictment - in which Ben Ari said: "They want to eliminate us. They are looking for our necks, they are not looking for lands, they want to slaughter us." In another section of the indictment, he is quoted as saying: "Any concession to the Arabs, listen carefully, any concession to the Arabs will only increase the appetite, will only increase the appetite," and that he called them a "murderous nation." According to the lawyers, "one can only be surprised and regretful that instead of listening to the things that were said by him - seriously, and while taking the necessary precautions, it was decided to take investigative and hearing procedures against our client, who believes that these procedures are intended to 'shut up' his own mouth and that of a large public in Israel. Our client believes that the grim reality has proven that his words were true, both on the factual level and on the academic research level. It should be emphasized that many among the general public, including academics, military personnel, journalists, and politicians, are openly reading, today and in the past, statements that are much more serious than the statements attributed to Dr. Ben Ari. In light of all this, Ben Ari's lawyers are contacting the State Attorney and saying: "We would like to receive notification that a decision has been made to close the investigation file in the case of Dr. Michael Ben Ari within 14 days." They also state in their letter that if a decision is not made within the time period in question, Ben Ari has instructed them to apply to the High Court of Justice in order to bring the torture of the law that has lasted for many years to an end. Let us recall that over a year ago, the State Attorney announced that he was filing an indictment against Ben Ari, subject to a hearing, for offenses of incitement. The announcement of the intention to file an indictment came after the prosecutor's office realized that Ben Ari intended to appeal to the High Court of Justice against the torture of the trial in his case, after three and a half years in which the case remained unresolved. As you may recall, after Ben Ari was disqualified from running for the Knesset in the 2019 elections, the then Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, ordered the opening of a criminal investigation against Ben Ari following statements he made, which, as mentioned, have recently been proven to be true. Attorney Zion Amir: "The appeal to the State Attorney speaks for itself. "For many years, I have not encountered an intolerable and scandalous legal case like the case of Attorney General Ben Ari. This is particularly serious, both because the Supreme Court already in 2020 expressed its displeasure with the delay and torture of the case, and also due to the fact that the state already stated at the hearing that the matter would come to an end within a few months, and if that were not enough, about a year has already passed since the hearing we held in the case and Attorney General Ben Ari is still being held by the throat. There is no factual, legal, or public justification for leaving a case open for so many years without receiving a decision.".