Manbar, sex and Netanyahu
Israel, Politics, 7/14/1998

The man who survived so many scandals is now facing a new test. Not only since he took office more than two years ago but also even long before that, Israeli Prime Minister Benyamin Netanyahu has been the focal point of a set of scandals that affected his career, but only for a limited period of time.

Netanyahu survived and has managed to continue his tenure despite decreasing trust he once enjoyed in the eyes of the Israeli public. This time, however, it seems that he might have trespassed the law. Netanyahu, according to Labor Party opposition member, has intervened in the trial of Nahum Manbar, an Israeli businessman who was convicted last month of selling Israeli know-how to make chemical weapons for Iran. He allegedly interceded with the judge of Tel Aviv District Court in an attempt to influence his ruling. The judge, Amnon Strassnov, is due to issue his sentence on Manbar Wednesday. A former chief prosecutor in the Israeli army, Strassnov had garnered a problematic reputation for showing lenience to Israeli soldiers accused of maltreating Palestinians during the Intifada.

Manbar's lawyer, Amnon Zichroni, appealed to the Israeli High Court on Tuesday asking that Strassnov be excluded from the judge's panel and that his conviction of Manbar be deferred. The appeal was rejected. But Zichroni still believed his move was essential because the police had rejected his demand to conduct at least a secret investigation into the allegations of Netanyahu's calls to Strassnov during the trial.

Netanyahu faces accusations of intervention in legal procedures during the trial of Manbar. During the legal proceedings against Manbar, Netanyahu made several statements to the press in which he incriminated Manbar long before the court issued its conviction. Also, right after the court convicted Manbar two months, Netanyahu again gave statements to the press in which he expressed hopes that the court would issue the severest punishment on Manbar. Zichroni considered this statement a blatant intervention in the course of justice and an attempt to influence the court's ruling.

Manbar's wife, Francine, who lives in France, said that Netanyahu intervened in her husband's case two weeks after the arrest and noted that Zichroni at the time sent a letter to Netanyahu asking him to stop all his involvement.

The Manbar affair, as it is known, did not stand by the debate on whether Netanyahu's statements contravened the judicial system or by what was in fact taking place behind the scenes between Netanyahu and Strassnov. The hot drama behind the story is the alleged sexual relationship between Strassnov and one of Manbar's lawyers, Pninat Yanai. Yanai did her training as a lawyer at the office of Strassnov. She later joined Zichroni's office where she became member of the defense team in Manbar's case. Zichroni accused his office mate of holding secret relations with Strassnov and said she was passing on information to him on the line of defense the lawyers decided to adopt. Yanai, however, claimed that it was Zichroni and his team who exerted pressure on her to establish contact with Strassnov and try to gauge where the case was. Yanai is also accused of having initiating close contacts with a senior General Security Services (GSS) official, alias Nir, who was in charge of the Manbar interrogation. She too allegedly spoke to Shai Bazak, Netanyahu's spokesman, who told her that his boss and judge Strassnov had spoken on the phone. He even told her, almost six months before Manbar was convicted, that the businessman was to be found guilty by judge Strassnov.

The whole affair sounds like those US-style sex, lies and videotape scandals though it is not certain that any of the two parties had tapes to prove his point. Her ex-lover, Ziv Chen, who said he heard Strassnov talking dirty to Banai on the phone, revealed Banai's secret and controversial contacts. He even gave a testimony to the court with contents of those conversations, which, in some of them, came full of pornographic terminology.

During his trial, Manbar claimed all his contacts with the Iranians were authorized in advance by the top echelon in Israel, both political and military. He even argued that the Israeli General Security Services, GSS, had been in constant touch with him on every single step he made. He complained that he was being treated as scapegoat because "the state decided to put him on trial for things he did on behalf of his country." But the court did not accept all his arguments and the verdict, drafted by Strassnov, was strongly worded in an unprecedented way.

The Manbar-gate scandal erupted Monday morning when Labor Party Knesset member Ofir Pines received information that Netanyahu spoke with Strassnov about Manbar. Pines asked that an urgent questionnaire be submitted to the prime minister about the subject. But he subsequently withdrew this demand. But his party colleague, Nissim Zvili wasn't deterred by the censorship imposed on the topic. He said that he had in hand well-founded information based on "informed sources." according to which "the Netanyahu initiated talks with Judge Strassnov in which he displayed active involvement in the judicial proceeding." Zvili said "I know a lot of the details, including internal details. I don't want to relate to the legal aspect. I simply want to know whether there can be a situation in which the prime minister of Israel can arrogate to himself powers, which are not given by law. Should this be the case, then this is a very grave issue, and Netanyahu must not serve as prime minister in Israel."

Manbar (53) traveled a long way from his days on Kibbutz Givat Haim, where he was born and raised, to his conviction a month ago of betraying the state. The prosecution claimed that in exchange for the materials and the knowledge, which he passed along to the Iranians, he pocketed $16 million. Manbar left Israel in 1985, after failing in business ventures and compiling heavy debts. He was accused of passing along bad checks, and took refuge in Switzerland. The turning point came in the 90's, when he took up projects in the weapons trade, and was very successful. At this stage, he established contacts with the Iranians. He continued to visit Israel frequently, and donated money to several charity projects.

On March 27, 1997, during one of his visits to Israel, he was arrested by the GSS. His arrest was classified. But the military censor later approved the disclosure that Manbar had been arrested on suspicion of having committed crimes detrimental to Israel's security. Two months later, his trial began behind closed doors and a month later he was convicted.

Previous Stories:
  Mossad agent with false information on Syria might face trial for high treason   (12/5/1997)
  Will Netanyahu resign   (10/5/1997)
  Netanyahu contradicts his chief intelligence officer   (9/23/1997)

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