Michael Ben Ari to the prosecutor's office demanding that the prosecutor's office "close the investigation file against me, the grim reality proved that my words were the truth."
After more than four years of legal proceedings and in light of the terrible massacre in the south, the attorneys for former Knesset member Dr. Michael Ben-Ari, Zion Amir and Moshe Polsky, have turned to the state prosecutor with a request to close the case against Ben-Ari. They expressed astonishment and regret that instead of listening to the words spoken by him with due respect, the decision was made to initiate investigative and hearing proceedings against him.
The attorneys, who are from the Honenu organization have turned to the state prosecutor with a request to order the closure of the investigation against the former Knesset member. This comes after about four years in which the case has remained open, and after a hearing was held in the case about a year ago, with no decision made on the matter thus far. Attorney Amir criticized the prolonged legal proceedings and stated, "They are holding Dr. Ben-Ari's throat. There is no substantive, legal, or public justification to keep the case open for so many years without a decision."
Ben Ari's statements turned out to be true
The referral comes in light of the fighting in the south, during which it became clear that the statements made by Ben-Ari, which led to the opening of an investigation against him, were accurate. In their letter, the attorneys state that if a response is not received within 14 days, they intend to appeal to the Supreme Court in order to bring the legal proceedings in the case to a conclusion.
In their letter, the attorneys of Ben-Ari write that "at this time, the State of Israel and its citizens are in the midst of a challenging defensive war, an existential struggle, in which Israeli civilians were brutally attacked by terrorist murderers, who ruthlessly targeted innocent people in the streets, in a cruelty that one could hardly imagine existed in human beings. This has led to the killing of the elderly, women, and babies, and the abduction of innocent civilians, including children and the elderly, to Gaza, while committing heinous war crimes and horrific acts of rape, and the number of casualties and the wounded reaches thousands."
"Any concession to the Arabs will only increase their appetite"
"Unfortunately and with a heavy heart, the terrible and cruel reality to which we have been exposed has even exceeded the gloomy predictions of Dr. Ben-Ari," write his attorneys in the letter to the State Prosecutor. The lawyers refer to specific sections of the indictment in which Ben-Ari is quoted as saying, "They want to eliminate us. They are looking for our throats, not the land. They want to slaughter us." In another section of the indictment, he is quoted as saying, "Every concession to the Arabs, listen carefully, every concession to the Arabs will only increase their appetite," and he also referred to them as a "murderous nation."
According to the attorneys, "One cannot help but be astonished and grieved that instead of listening to what was said by him, with all due respect and under the initiation of cautionary measures, it was decided to initiate an investigation and questioning against our client, who believed that these proceedings were intended to 'muzzle' his and a large public's voice in Israel. Our client is of the opinion that the grim reality has proven that his words were entirely true, both in the factual and academic research fields. It should be emphasized that many members of the public, including academics, military personnel, journalists, and politicians, have called out statements more severe than statements attributed to Dr. Ben-Ari, both today and in the past."
The legal advisor ordered to open a criminal case following the offenses of incitement
It's worth mentioning that over a year ago, the Attorney General announced that he was filing an indictment against Ben Ari, pending a hearing, for incitement offenses. The decision to announce the intention to file an indictment came after the Attorney General's Office understood that Ben Ari's intention was to appeal to the Supreme Court against the delay in his case, following three and a half years without a decision. As a reminder, after Ben Ari was disqualified from running for the Knesset in the 2019 elections, the then Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, instructed to initiate a criminal investigation against Ben Ari following statements he made, which were found to be true these days.
Attorney Zion Amir stated, "The referral to the Attorney General is speaking for itself. It's been many years since I encountered such an unbearable and scandalous legal case as that of former MK Ben Ari. This is particularly severe, especially because the Supreme Court expressed its frustration with the prolonged delay and the stagnation of the case as far back as 2020. Furthermore, considering that the state had already declared during the debate back then that the matter would conclude within a few months, it is now over a year since we held a hearing in the case, and yet they continue to hold onto the throat of former MK Ben Ari. There is no legal, judicial, or public justification to leave a case open for so many years without reaching a decision," according to Amir.
