Retired Supreme Court Chief Justice Aharon Barak attempted to arbitrate in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial on four different occasions, Prof. Yuval Elbashan, former Dean of the Faculty of Law at Ono Academic College, revealed in an interview on Kan Radio on Sunday morning. Only two of these arbitration attempts were previously known to the public.
The Attorney-General’s Office, which is responsible for the state’s law enforcement apparatus, has previously rejected a request for arbitration, saying instead that the door was open for negotiations over a plea agreement.
According to Haaretz, approximately six months ago Barak met with Netnayhu’s defense team and proposed himself as arbitrator, but the proposal did not proceed.
Barak said in an interview in Mekor Rishon published on Friday, “I'm in favor of an agreement with Netanyahu. It doesn't matter whether it's a pardon or a plea deal—what matters is that we reach an agreement. It could lead to a de-escalation. I don't know why it's not happening. If it were up to me, I'd make an effort to reach a deal.”
The interview of Elbashan, who was a member of an informal group of academics who advised former Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit regarding the Netanyahu cases, came in the wake of social media posts by US President Donald Trump calling for the trial to end.
Trump believes this case is a travesty
In his most recent post, Trump wrote that "the travesty of 'Justice' will interfere with both Iran and Hamas negotiations," and that “it is INSANITY doing what the out-of-control prosecutors are doing to Bibi Netanyahu" (capital letter in source).
The US president’s posts, which were shared by Netanyahu, came as the prime minister’s cross-examination is set to resume on Monday after a two-week hiatus due to Israel’s operation against Iran.
The prime minister requested to delay the trial by an additional two weeks, citing “important diplomatic matters,” but the court rejected the request, including after viewing Netanyahu’s schedule.
A series of politicians from the coalition backed Trump’s calls to cancel the trial, although most did not lay out the legal mechanism by which this could happen.
Some called on President Isaac Herzog to award Netanyahu clemency. Kan News’ Yaara Shapira reported on Saturday night that some coalition members were considering legislation that would lead to the cancellation of the trial. According to Shapira’s report, in any case, this legislation would only apply after the next election.
Notably, Knesset Constitution Committee chairman MK Simcha Rothman (Religious Zionist Party), a harsh critic of Israel’s judicial system and one of the architects of the government’s controversial reforms, wrote in a post on X on that while "the Israeli judicial system has many flaws, and Netanyahu's trial is perhaps an example of the accumulation of such flaws,” it is not the role of the President of the United States to intervene in the judicial proceedings of the State of Israel."
However, in a radio interview on Kan Reshet Bet on Sunday morning, Rothman claimed that the prosecution and judges were treating Netanyahu unfairly, and that in other cases, judges had shown more flexibility.
Later on Sunday, Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar wrote a letter in support of a petition to the High Court that Netanyahu’s trial be delayed until the end of the war.
Sa’ar, a former member of the Likud party, broke with Netanyahu in 2020, stating at the time that the Likud had become “a tool serving the personal interests of its leader, including those related to his criminal trial. Loyalty to the path, to values, and to the original vision has been replaced by flattery and statements verging on a personality cult around a mere mortal.”
In his letter on Sunday, Sa’ar wrote, “I have decided to write this letter in light of the unprecedented security and diplomatic challenges currently facing the State of Israel.
These are very familiar to me in my capacity as Foreign Minister, a member of the Inner Cabinet, and a member of the National Security Cabinet.
“I am well-acquainted with these challenges, the dangers, and the opportunities. I can state that throughout all my years in public life, the State of Israel has not faced challenges of such magnitude. I am also aware of the practical implications of the ongoing trial being on the Prime Minister’s agenda in its current format,” Sa’ar wrote.
“I am convinced beyond any doubt that, given the current circumstances, the clear national and public interest is to suspend the trial proceedings. I regret that the prosecution did not act in court in a manner required by the circumstances.”
The prime minister has indeed demonstrated extraordinary ability in coping with various pressures and constraints. However, I have no doubt that devoting his full attention at this time to the diplomatic and security challenges before us would be for the benefit of the State of Israel.
The delay in the trial would be a minor and negligible harm compared to the benefits that would arise from it,” Sa’ar wrote.
The judges on the bench later agreed to cancel Netanyahu’s testimonies scheduled for this week after hearing closed-door requests from senior security officials, including the head of IDF intelligence and the head of the Mossad.