Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit appeared before the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday for the third time to testify in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's criminal case.
In his testimony, Mandelblit discussed the bribery investigation in Case 4000, and noted that he never approved an investigation into Netanyahu for bribery.
"There was a moral integrity crime, but I don't remember that I approved the word 'bribery,'" he stressed.
Last week, the former Attorney General claimed that pressure from law enforcement or the media did not affect his decisions in the Netanyahu cases. However, he did confirm that he did not know that the Israel Securities Authority intended to turn Shlomo Filber into a state witness, in coordination with former Deputy State Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari.
During the testimony, Netanyahu's attorney, Amit Haddad, asked Mandelblit about remarks attributed to him that he was pressured by the prosecution.
"None of my decisions stemmed from pressure," Mandelblit responded. "All of my decisions were based on my own professional considerations. Law enforcement authorities have the right and obligation to express their opinion if they think an investigation should be opened."
Mandelblit further insisted: "Nothing can influence me, not media pressure, and not pressure from the law enforcement authorities."