This is how Efi Naveh rigged the appointment of Mandelblit • Recordings expose the corruption

September 4, 2024   

In 2015, there was a battle over the question of who would be the attorney general. The then-secretary of the government, Avichai Mandelblit, really wanted the position, and the recordings revealed this evening (Wednesday) by senior political commentator Amit Segal on Channel 12 show just how much. But he had two obstacles: the first - he was a criminal suspect in the Harpaz affair, and the second - he was serving as the secretary of the government at the same time, which could be interpreted as a conflict of interest, since the attorney general is the authority to open a criminal investigation against a prime minister. But Mandelblit, Amit Segal points out, had a secret weapon, a tiebreaker: his good friend is Efi Naveh, head of the Bar Association. During the crucial period, Mandelblit and Naveh sometimes spoke 12 times a day. Naveh appointed lawyer Yechiel Katz, on behalf of the bar, as a member of the search committee. Outwardly, Katz and Mandelblit have no connection. In practice - Yechiel is being manipulated by Mandelblit, contrary to procedures, against the other candidates and in favor of his election. As part of the investigation into the Justice Orenstein affair, a search was conducted at Attorney Efi Naveh's, during which a disk-on-key was found containing a collection of conversations between Attorney Efi Naveh and Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. The conversations relate to the period before the Attorney General's appointment and shortly after the appointment. Amit Segal managed to obtain a copy of these conversations. Due to their great public importance, he contacted Attorney Efi Naveh and under these circumstances received his permission to publish. In addition, Segal revealed that Mandelblit threatened to stop the article for legal reasons. Channel 12 also noted that these are partial recordings and not all of them.

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And this is how it went: N (Noah): Today Yechiel's daughter is getting married, but I'm not sure it's worth it (to come there) M (Mandelblit): No, no, no. N: It really works for you, just so you know. M: Well done to him and well done to you. Naveh continues to explain to Mandelblit in the conversation how Yechiel works for him on the search committee: N: Yechiel is preparing a really thorough job. He already knows your case from front to back, in the middle of his sleep you will wake him up. I told him Yechiel what is important is that you convince Grunis. We have a quartet even without him, but if he gives you his blessing it kills the chances of the High Court.". Candidates, certainly for the most important position of integrity, are not allowed to act behind the scenes in front of the members of the committee that will discuss their fate. But for months, Katz has been passing on valuable, confidential inside information to Mandelblit, through Neve. He receives instructions in return on how to act in a way that will harm the other candidates, including senior officials in the Attorney General's Office and judges. Here is an inside briefing on the eve of Mandelblit's appearance before the committee: N: The only thing that will probably really come up tomorrow is the claim that you are subordinate to the Prime Minister, work with him, and there is a relationship of authority between you, and suddenly you are going to be in a position where the relationship between you can affect you, your judgment, which is supposed to be independent of the cause, and won't your closeness to the Prime Minister affect you making decisions the next day that he won't like or things like that, so prepare yourself. M: Of course not, I am the legal advisor to the entire government, the cabinet. As soon as the Prime Minister called me, I came. My world is professional, not political. The duo of Naveh and Mandelblit is troubled by one thing - that Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked, who is supporting him, will be replaced: N: When you get to talk to your big boss (Netanyahu), tell him that he should delay the Rishaph (Labor's entry into the government) because it will really, really harm your cause... M: I know, I know. He knows his fingerprints too. N: There is talk that he wants to bring in Bozhi instead of the Jewish Home, otherwise he can forget about the Attorney General. Shaked is dedicated to you, a dot, an exclamation point, she loves you, you are a religious settler, for all their reasons they are going after you with all their might. M: I am not a settler. N: It doesn't matter, I'm just an officer. In one of the conversations, Naveh is heard telling Mandelblit that he "gave a great performance" on the committee, but then comes bad news. The committee discussions are delayed, as is the appointment, and Mandelblit is interested in a quick decision, as he fears the fight against his appointment by then-Attorney General Yehuda Weinstein, who ordered him to be investigated with a warning. [Gallery]

Screenshot: News 12

The things you will hear from Mandelblit about the advisor are very reminiscent in style of what Netanyahu will later say against him: M: They (lawyers) think there is a targeted thwarting here. They started with the idea that it was negligence and low-level, and today they are talking about elimination. The whole purpose of the investigation is not because I committed a crime, thirty-six hours of interrogation when they know I didn't commit anything. M: They listened to hundreds of my legal advice conversations with the Chief of Staff, hundreds. Something crazy like no other. This is the destruction of democracy. N: Who approved these wiretaps? M: Nothing, there is no authorization. I am an officer in the IDF, I am the Deputy Chief of Staff. N: The fact that you went through this will make you a better and more sensitive counselor. M: A I agree. N: Power corrupts and is not always beneficial. M: Really, right. Segal describes that even after the appointment was approved by the search committee and then by the government, Mandelblit is still not calm. He is very worried that he will be disqualified in the High Court of Justice, mainly because the Attorney General's Office, which opened a criminal investigation against him for fraud and breach of trust, is the one that is supposed to protect him now from the claim that the investigation itself disqualifies him from serving in the position responsible for moral integrity. Mandelblit and Noah know that if Mandelblit is disqualified, Netanyahu will work to appoint Guy Rotkopf, the former director general of the Ministry of Justice who is considered an enemy of the system because he fought legal activism. And here is rare testimony from the inside, from the most senior man in the law enforcement system, which reveals the reasons he used to convince the Attorney General's Office to defend him in the High Court. Not justice, not law, just a desire to block another legal advisor that the system despises: M: We are in a different place now. The prosecutor's office will be with us. Yehuda spoke to me, and I said about you, we are being protected. Another place. N: The question is how do you defend? You know when the prosecution is with you from the heart or what... M: No, the situation is different because Shai wants (to protect me) because of the option because of the alternative (-Rotkopf). N: They were left wondering what the option was. M: Fell, fell. N: How do you know? M: Because I talked to Shai for an hour and a half. Everyone understands. N: Oh, you understand that if you leave, Rotkopf will come without blinking an eye, do you understand that? M: Yes. He understands perfectly, not just him, everyone there understands. N: And you know what, it won't be there. They'll get Rotkopf and that's the end of the story. M: Listen, he can bring a broom (to the Deputy Attorney General), he doesn't need (the condition) of being qualified for the Supreme Court. An eighty-year-old broom and there's nothing he can do. He brings whatever he wants. N: That's right. It's important that they understand that the token will fall to them that they will curse the moment Avichai left because they understand who came in his place. On Mandelblit's behalf, Efi Naveh also conveys messages behind the scenes to the Supreme Court justices - if you accept the petition, an Attorney General you don't want will be elected. The message gets through and the petition is rejected. This was Mandelblit's insider testimony. In the year of the struggle for reform and even today, Mandelblit has stood up to defend the judicial system. The conversations with Naveh provide a glimpse into what he really thought about it, and what levers he used.