The court granted Ben Ari's appeal, ruling that the documents are relevant to his defense claim that the indictment was influenced by his election campaign. The judge noted that the internal correspondence includes explicit references to the election and the need to expedite the investigation for that reason. The prosecution had offered to provide summaries instead, but the court rejected that, saying summaries would not allow a full picture and could leave a cloud over the prosecution's conduct.
In a further development in the case of former MK Michael Ben Ari, the Lod District Court today (Wednesday) ordered the State Attorney's Office to hand over internal documents revealing the considerations behind the decision to indict him. The court granted Ben Ari's appeal, ruling that the documents are relevant to his claim that the prosecution was influenced by his candidacy in the upcoming election. Judge Ron Solkin noted that the internal correspondence includes explicit references to the election and the need to expedite the investigation. The prosecution had offered to provide summaries, but the court rejected that, stating that summaries would not allow a full picture and could leave a cloud over the prosecution's conduct.
The Zioneer reported at 11:43 Jerusalem today that Judge Solkin had already disclosed in a separate ruling that the prosecution rushed to gather materials against Ben Ari about two months before the 21st Knesset elections, explicitly to disqualify his candidacy. The judge also said the prosecution dictated the investigation questions and effectively managed the criminal probe. The latest ruling builds on that disclosure, with the court now ordering the actual internal correspondence to be released.
The documents are expected to be released in the coming days. Until then, the full extent of the prosecution's internal considerations remains unclear. Ben Ari, a candidate for the Identity party, welcomed the ruling, saying it vindicates his claim that the indictment was a political move.
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Source and signal
- Internal intake