The groups that held weekly protests outside the Prime Minister’s Residence on Jerusalem’s Balfour Street when Benjamin Netanyahu was premier demonstrated on Saturday night outside attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit’s home in Petah Tikva, calling on him to reject the request by Netanyahu’s lawyers for a plea agreement that would ensure the former prime minister will not go to jail.
Hundreds of protesters came in the rain, accusing Mandelblit of “making a deal with the devil” and giving Netanyahu a “celebrity discount.”
Meretz MKs Michal Rozin, Gaby Lasky and Mossi Raz attended the protest.
“The plea agreement that is being hatched before our eyes causes significant damage to the concept of equality under the law and spits in the face of law-abiding citizens,” Crime Minister protest movement leader Amir Haskel said.
Eli Avidar, Minister in the Prime Minister’s Office, who was one of the leaders of the protests, called on the demonstrators to also insist on a probe of the “Submarine Affair.”
Avidar said that if Prime Minister Naftali Bennett blocks the investigation, he will “stab the change camp in the back.”
“We need to wake people up, because we are on the way to elections,” Avidar said. “If the sub probe is not approved in the days ahead, it means there won’t be a rotation and the government will soon start falling apart.”
In an interview with Maariv over the weekend, Avidar spoke out against a plea agreement for political reasons.
“Netanyahu is an important asset for us,” he said. “If elections are forced on us, he is the easiest competition.”