The one holdout on Mandelblit’s plea-bargain list, at press time, was Binyamin Netanyahu

When Avichai Mandelblit’s term as attorney general ended Monday, he took two of Israel’s most senior and effective chareidi politicians with him.

Both Aryeh Deri (Shas) and Yaakov Litzman (UTJ) signed plea-bargain agreements and resigned from the Knesset rather than face a last-minute Mandelblit indictment and see their names dragged through the mud for the foreseeable future, no matter whether they are proven innocent or found guilty.

The one holdout on Mandelblit’s plea-bargain list, at press time, was Binyamin Netanyahu.

Many reasons have been offered to explain why Bibi has still not signed on the dotted line.

Two make the most sense to me. Under pressure from state prosecutors, Mandelblit reportedly insisted Netanyahu sign a clause admitting to “moral turpitude.”

Moral turpitude is a legal construct with no clear statutory definition. It’s usually reserved for someone who commits major offenses, such as murder, robbery, kidnapping, or drug crimes, with premeditation and criminal intent.

The main accusation against Bibi is that he used his considerable clout to help a media mogul and crony to win approval for a profitable corporate merger — one that had been rumored in the financial press for 15 years before it happened. In return, Netanyahu was to receive a bribe in the form of more positive press coverage from the media mogul’s website. There is no country in the world where bargaining for better press is considered a crime — certainly not one constituting moral turpitude.

Netanyahu would have been foolish to sign what’s tantamount to a guilty plea. The trial is going his way. His lawyers have discredited one prosecution witness after another under cross-examination.

Bibi was also bolstered by a 24-hour crowd-funding campaign that raised some 2.5 million shekels for his defense, proving he still enjoys widespread public support from people who want him to fight to the end to prove his innocence.

Mandelblit, for his part, who is fond of telling the media that his sole motivation in any decision he makes is to be the guardian of “the rule of law,” will probably be rewarded for his pursuit of Bibi and chareidi politicians with an appointment to one of the upcoming vacancies on Israel’s Supreme Court.

It’s ironic that in that capacity, one day, Mandelblit could conceivably be one of the judges called upon to rule on any appeal Netanyahu might file if he is ultimately convicted.

(Originally featured in Mishpacha, Issue 897)