Is Former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on his way to a plea bargain in his 3 trials

Is there a chance to end in a gainplea deal the saga of the Netanyahu trial, which has been going on for five years since the first investigation broke out? The attorney general of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, Adv. Boaz Ben-Zur, recently raised this possibility in contacts with the State Attorney's Office.
The gaps between the parties are narrowing: Is former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on the way to a plea deal? Following the publication of the State Attorney's' willingness to close the 2000 case as part of a possible plea agreement - it appears that there is only one section that is in dispute between the parties. And meanwhile, even before it was even signed - this plea deal leads to great vigilance in the entire political system.
The issue in dispute is the date of Netanyahu's resignation, as it has significance for the dramatic question of disgrace. Despite the information, the former prime minister wants to do it early - a day before the judges' decision, so the one who will discuss the stigma is the chairman of the Central Election Commission, ahead of the next Knesset election. The Knesset will deal with this automatically because they are judges in a district court, in which case it is likely that a disgrace will be imposed that the State Attorney's Office will claim this.
The article was first published by journalist Ben Caspit. Sefi Ovadia and Lior Keinan added to it today. The timing was apparently influenced by Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit's imminent retirement: the desire to keep the next adviser clean is likely to make him flexible. The plea bargain bypassing the stigma signed with Aryeh Deri also played a role.
Only four were in the secret: Mandelblit, State Attorney Amit Isman, prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari and Dr. Hagai Harush, the attorney's senior assistant. 4000, was not in the secret of contacts.
A man who sought, he said, "to save the country," a personality both sides know, approached Mandelblit a few months ago and suggested he open negotiations on a plea deal. The counsel refused. He said the door was open - but only to Netanyahu's lawyers, in an official appeal.
A few weeks ago, Adv. Ben-Zur approached him. A dialogue was opened. The State Attorney's Office defined the contacts as a "feasibility study," not negotiations. Negotiations will be held in cooperation with all the attorneys involved in the case. Each will be able to express his opinion. Sensitive to any publication, to any leak.
But initial negotiations were. What Netanyahu's lawyer suggested, in fact, is to go with and feel without: the bribery clause (File 4000) will go down, Netanyahu will plead guilty to two counts of fraud and breach of trust, will be sentenced to less than three months' service work and circumvent the question of defamation, as in the Deri deal. Netanyahu will promise to resign from the Knesset and not return in the coming years.
Mandelblit refused. The Deri case turned into a tax offense, while this is government corruption. The stigma cannot be circumvented. The good will of the accused cannot be relied upon. It must end in imprisonment or service work of three months or more and seven years of exclusion from the Knesset and the government, because of disgrace.
Going to the media is part of the trial that is being conducted in the court of public opinion, in parallel with the trial in Jerusalem. Netanyahu's lawyers want to create a narrative: All the prosecution wants is to get rid of Netanyahu, at any cost. Along the way, they exposed Mandelblit to public criticism, starting with someone who claims that the adviser made excessive assumptions for Netanyahu and ending with someone who claims that the indictment was dubious in the first place.
The failure of the contacts this time does not mean that the trial will be conducted to the end: perhaps the opposite. Mandelblit believes in processes. The process at the end of which a plea bargain is set in motion.
Meanwhile, agreements have been reached on a number of issues:
• Will not be convicted of bribery - it will be deleted from the 4000 case
• Will confess to two counts of fraud and breach of trust - in case 4000 (Bezeq-Walla) and in case 1000 (gift case)
• The charge in the 2000 case will be dropped
• There will be service jobs and not imprisonment
• 1000 case - fraud and breach of trust
File 2000 - closed (at least in relation to Netanyahu)
• 4000 case - fraud and breach of trust
• The penalty: 3-6 months of service work
Mandelblit is expected to object to Netanyahu resigning the day before the judges' decision, and if there is flexibility in the matter, it will most likely come from the former prime minister. There are two precedents for the chairman of the election committee who discussed the issue of the disgrace of a person convicted of an offense with service work. In his actions.
The question of disgrace is significant, because if Netanyahu is disgraced, he will be removed from the political arena for seven years. Anyone who knows Netanyahu and is aware of his conduct in investigations, trials and court hearings knows that his decisions on these issues are made together with his wife and son, and it is not certain that they will support an arrangement that is likely to lock up his glorious political career.
If a plea deal is signed in the next two and two days, it will be no less than a political earthquake like no other in Israel for years. It is likely to deeply shake the foundations of the coalition, so much so that the assessment at all ends of the political spectrum is that it is shortening the life expectancy of the current government to a few months. It is likely that this consideration is also in front of Netanyahu's eyes. Coalition officials fear that this possible plea deal will very soon lead to tensions in the government following parties that decide to harden positions.