vichai Mandelblit

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Avichai Mandelblit

14th Attorney General of Israel

Incumbent

Assumed office

1 February 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Preceded by Yehuda Weinstein

17th Cabinet Secretary

In office

29 April 2013 – 1 February 2016

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu

Preceded by Zvi Hauser

Personal details
 Born 29 July 1963 (age 57)

Tel Aviv, Israel

Spouse(s) Ronit

Education Tel Aviv University

Bar-Ilan University

Military service

Allegiance  Israel

Branch/service  Israeli Army

Years of service 1985–2011

Rank  Aluf (Major general)

Commands Military Advocate General

 First Intifada
Battles/wars
 Second Intifada

 Second Lebanon War

 Operation Cast Lead

Avichai Mandelblit (Hebrew: ‫ ;אביחי מנדלבליט‬born 29 July 1963) is an Israeli jurist who

serves as the Attorney General of Israel. Mandelblit had a long career in the Israel
Defense Forces legal system, eventually serving as the Chief Military Advocate
General between 2004 and 2011. In April 2013, he was appointed Cabinet Secretary.
[1]
 In February 2016, he was appointed Attorney General. In November 2019, following a
three-year investigation,[2] Mandelblit formally indicted Israel's sitting Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu with three charges of fraud and breach of trust, and one
charge of bribery.[3]

Contents

 1Early life
 2Military career
 3Cabinet Secretary
  4Attorney General of Israel
o 4.1Indictment of Netanyahu
 5Mandelblit tapes
 6Personal life
 7References
 8External links

Early life[edit]
Avichai Mandelblit was born and raised in Tel Aviv. His parents were Baruch (Mickey)
and Ada Mandelblit. His father, a clothing merchant and deputy head of the Israel
Football Association, was an Irgun veteran and member of the right-wing Herut party. At
age 26, Mandelblit became an Orthodox Jew and a disciple of rabbi Baruch Ashlag.[4]
Mandelblit postponed his mandatory military service in the Israel Defense Forces to
attend Tel Aviv University as part of the Atuda program.[4] He joined the IDF in 1985,
after graduating with a bachelor's degree in law. He later earned a Ph.D. in law
from Bar-Ilan University.[5]

Military career[edit]
Upon joining the IDF, he held a variety of positions in the Military Advocate General's
Office. Between 1991 and 1992, he served as a judge on the Military Court of the Gaza
region. In 1993, he was appointed senior assistant to the Chief Military Prosecutor, and
later became his deputy. In 1997, he was appointed Deputy President of the Military
Court of the Southern Command and the Ground Forces. In 2000, he was appointed as
the Head of the Chief Military Defense, and, in 2003, as the Deputy Military Advocate
General. In 2004, he was promoted to the rank of Tat Aluf (Brigadier General) and
appointed as the Chief Military Advocate General. In 2009, he was promoted to the rank
of Aluf.
During his service as the Chief Military Advocate General, Mandelblit frequently
expressed the IDF's legal viewpoint upon different issues of the international
humanitarian law. In December 2007, he declared that the IDF's use of cluster
bombs during the Second Lebanon War complied with international humanitarian law.
[6]
 He was also among the harsh critics of the Goldstone Report, stating:
We ourselves set up investigations into 140 complaints. It is when you read these other
reports and complaints that you realize how truly vicious the Goldstone report is. He
made it look like we set out to go after the economic infrastructure and civilians, that it
was intentional. It's a vicious lie.[7]
On 15 September 2011, Mandelblit was succeeded as the Chief Military Advocate
General by Danny Efroni.[8]

Cabinet Secretary[edit]
After retiring from the military in 2011, Mandelblit served until 2013 as a researcher at
the Institute for National Security Studies.[9]
In 2013, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appointed Mandelblit to the post
of Cabinet Secretary which he served during the thirty-third government of Israel and
the beginning of thirty-fourth government of Israel.[10][11] During this role he was in charge
of establishing the Kotel compromise.[12]

Attorney General of Israel[edit]

Mandelblit was appointed Attorney General of Israel in 2016, with the support of
Netanyahu and his Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked.[13]
As attorney general, Mandelblit gained "a reputation as a meticulous legalist" who
prioritizes the rule of law; although a longtime member of the Likud party, Mandelblit
was described by colleagues and friends as an apolitical attorney general whose
decisionmaking is not colored by political considerations. [5] He opposed Section 7 of the
proposed nation-state law, which would have allowed Jewish communal settlements to
refuse to accept non-Jewish residents.[14]
As of June 2020, Mandelblit is also serving as acting State Attorney because the
entering Justice Minister Avi Nissenkorn has yet to appoint a new State Attorney to
succeed Shai Nitzan. The High Court approved this arrangement. [15]
Indictment of Netanyahu[edit]
Main article: Investigations involving Benjamin Netanyahu
Although Mandelblit had a close working relationship with Netanyahu dating back to
Mandelblit's time as IDF's Military Advocate General, Mandelblit pursued criminal
probes into Netanyahu relating to allegations of corruption by the prime minister and his
associates.[11][13] In July 2016, Mandelblit opened an initial review of Netanyahu's conduct
in an unspecified case, and was criticized some on the left who viewed Mandelblit as
protecting the prime minister.[13] In January 2017, Mandelblit approved law enforcement
questioning of Netanyahu in connection with Case 1000 (an inquiry into allegedly illegal
gifts).[13] After the separate Case 2000 (Yediot Aharonot-Israel Hayom affair) against
Netanyahu emerged, Mandelblit moved slowly on the case. [13] In September 2017,
Mandelblit indicted the prime minister's wife, Sara Netanyahu;[13] as part of a plea
agreement, Sara Netanyahu was ordered to pay the equivalent of US$15,000. [5]
In February 2018, police recommended that Prime Minister Netanyahu be indicted for
bribery in cases 1000 and 2000.[13] Later that year, another case, the Bezeq-
Walla! affair Case 4000 emerged, and the prime minister fell under suspicion after his
former allies Shlomo Filber and Nir Hefetz, turned state's evidence and became
witnesses against Netanyahu.[13][16] In December 2018, after State Prosecutor Shai
Nitzan recommended that Netanyahu be indicted, [17] Mandelblit announced that he would
"work quickly" to decide whether to indict Netanyahu. [18] Mandelblit said he would not act
"at the expense of quality decisions and professionalism" and "would not be influenced
by anything other than the evidence and the law". [18]
In February 2019, Mandelblit announced he had accepted police recommendations to
indict Netanyahu on three charges and that an indictment would be formally issued
following a hearing.[19] Contested pre-indictment hearings concluded in October 2019. [20]
On 21 November 2019, Mandelblit indicted Netanyahu on charges of bribery, fraud, and
breach of trust (in connection with Case 4000) and fraud and breach of public trust (in
connection with Case 1000 and Case 2000).[21] At the same time, Mandelblit
indicted Yediot Ahronot owner Arnon Nuni Mozes on a bribery charge and Bezeq-Walla!
owner Shaul Elovitch and his wife Iris on charges of bribery and obstruction of justice.[22]

Mandelblit tapes[edit]
On the 13th of October 2020, Amit Segel [he] had leaked an audio talk of Madelblit that
implied that Madelblit was blackmailed, and that he got a tailored case against him. [23][24][25]
On October 14, 2020 The Times of Israel had reported that "The release of the tapes by
Channel 12 on Tuesday was seen by allies of Netanyahu—whom Mandelblit indicted on
corruption charges earlier this year—as supporting an unsubstantiated conspiracy
theory that the attorney general had been blackmailed by the state attorney,
prosecutors and police into filing the charges as part of a 'witch hunt' aimed at ousting
the premier. The newly aired recordings, while highlighting a beef between Mandelblit
and Nitzan years before the Netanyahu investigations began, do not provide evidence
for any such blackmail."[26]

Personal life[edit]
Mandelblit lives in Petah Tikva.[11] He is married, and has six children.[5]

References[edit]
1. ^ Lis, Yehonatan; Cohen, Gili (29 April 2013). " ‫הפצ"ר לשעבר‬
‫"אביחי מנדלבליט מונה למזכיר הממשלה‬  [Former Military Advocate
General Avihai Mandelblit Appointed Government
Secretary]. Haaretz (in Hebrew). Retrieved 13 March  2018.
2. ^ Israel's Netanyahu Charged in Corruption Cases,
Associated Press (21 November 2019).
3. ^ "Israel's Gatekeepers Bravely Stood Up to Netanyahu. But
the Real Battle Lies Ahead".  Haaretz. 21 November 2019.
Retrieved 21 November 2019.
4. ^ Jump up to:a b "The man who can end Netanyahu".
israelnationalnews.com. 13 February 2018. Retrieved 18
August  2020.
5. ^ Jump up to:a b c d Ilan Ben Zion, Meticulous legalist who holds
Netanyahu's fate in his hands, Financial Times (9 September
2019).
6. ^ Hanan, Greenberg (24 December 2007). "IDF: Use of
cluster bombs during war legal".  Ynetnews.  Archived  from
the original on 28 July 2012. Retrieved 24 February 2008.
7. ^ "IDF set to counter Goldstone Report". Ynetnews. 23
January 2010.  Archived  from the original on 30 August 2016.
Retrieved 30 January  2010.
8. ^ Pfeffer, Anshel (25 August 2011).  "Col. Danny Efroni to be
next IDF military advocate general - Haaretz Daily Newspaper
| Israel News". Haaretz.com. Retrieved  1 October  2019.
 9. ^ Ministry of Public Security: Dr. Avihai Mandelblit, gov.il.
10. ^ Aaron Kalman, Avichai Mandelblit named cabinet
secretary, Times of Israel (29 April 2013).
11. ^ Jump up to:      Isabel Kershner, Promoted by Netanyahu,
a b c

Israel's Attorney General Must Now Scrutinize Him, New York

Times (13 February 2019).
12. ^ Shuky Sade, Mandelblit will do almost everything to assist
Bibi, but not everything, The Marker, January 2017
13. ^ Jump up to:a b c d e f g h Yonhah Jeremy Bob, Mandelblit: From
PM's man to overthrowing Netanyahu – the
timeline, Jerusalem Post (1 March 2019).
14. ^ Mordechai Sones, 'All cities in the Galilee will become
mixed', Israel National News (15 June 2018).
15. ^ "High Court says attorney general can also serve as state
attorney". www.timesofisrael.com. 1 June 2020. Retrieved 16
June  2020.
16. ^ Amitai Ziv, Who Is Shlomo Filber, the Netanyahu Crony
Who Turned State's Evidence?, Haaretz (21 February 2018).
17. ^ Jack Gold (20 December 2018). "Israel State Prosecutor's
Office recommends Netanyahu indictment". World Israel
News. Retrieved  7 January  2019.
18. ^ Jump up to:a b Gil Hoffman (20 December 2018).  "Mandelblit:
We are not hounding the prime minister".  The Jerusalem
Post. Retrieved 7 January 2019.
19. ^ "Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to be indicted
for corruption".  cbsnews.com. Retrieved 28 February 2019.
20. ^ Netanyahu hearings end, but defense gets two more weeks
for written submissions, Times of Israel (7 October 2019).
21. ^ Netael Bandel, Netanyahu Charged With Bribery, Fraud and
Breach of Trust, Capping a Dramatic Political
Year, Haaretz (21 November 2019).
22. ^ Yonah Jeremy Bob, Netanyahu indicted: A-G to charge PM
with bribery, fraud, breach of trust, Jerusalem Post (21
November 2019).
23. ^ Israel, David. "Likud Demands Mandelblit's Resignation;
Shocking Recordings Imply AG Was Blackmailed to Indict
Netanyahu". Retrieved  30 April 2021.
24. ^ "N12 - ‫ "המניאק הזה לא מחליט בתיק‬:‫חשיפה | הקלטות מנדלבליט‬
‫""שלי‬.  N12. 13 October 2020. Retrieved  30 April 2021.
25. ^ " ‫ למה מנדלבליט כינה את שי ניצן‬:‫הקלטות נדירות נחשפו‬
‫"?מניאק‬.  www.maariv.co.il. Retrieved 30 April  2021.
26. ^ Bachner, Michael; staff, T. O. I. "Netanyahu ally threatens
more dirt will air about AG if he doesn't
resign".  www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 30 April  2021.

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