Attorney Liat Ben Ari, a senior prosecutor in the State Attorney’s Office who led the witchhunt in indicting Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, announced on Thursday that she is resigning from her position at the end of the month.

Ben Ari, 59, claimed that her resignation is due to personal reasons and is not related to the prime minister’s trial.

She said that “dealing with the many challenging tasks over the years, particularly in my recent roles, involved significant strain and heavy responsibility, which also led to a sense of exhaustion. With the disaster that befell us on October 7, 2023, thoughts about life and its meaning have intensified.”

However, her resignation comes at a rather intriguing time, shortly after the judges scoffed in court at the charges of bribery against Netanyahu in Case 4000, even snapping at the prosecutor that “the court recommended you drop the bribery charges.” [In June 2023, the Jerusalem District Court recommended that the prosecution drop the bribery charges, warning that a conviction was unlikely.]

And Ben Liat [unsuccessfully] tried to have Netanyahu charged with bribery in all three cases!

Although Ben Liat led the cases at the indictment stage, other attorneys are arguing the case in court.

During the court sessions, the judges expressed skepticism over many of the prosecution’s claims in key incidents, leading Netanyahu’s defense lawyer, Amit Hadad, to tell the prosecutor: “You have no reasonable chance of conviction.”

The prosecution provided dozens of examples of Netanyahu allegedly bribing the CEO of Walla to provide favorable coverage of him. However, Hadad successfully demonstrated that the examples the prosecution provided were written without the knowledge or involvement of Netanyahu or his family members.

Not only that but Hadad provided proof that Walla not only failed to provide favorable coverage to Netanyahu but was hostile and unresponsive to the prime minister. Hadad showed the court an example of a Walla report that was written in a far more hostile manner to Netanyahu than even the report by the far-left Haaretz outlet, which is known for its hostility toward the prime minister.

But the indictment cites that Walla report, and dozens of other reports that were hostile to the prime minister, as articles written after Netanyahu personally interfered and received positive coverage in exchange for personal favors for the Walla CEO!

The judges’ disbelief was a very serious blow to the prosecution as the allegations are part of Case 4000, the most serious of the cases against Netanyahu as it involves the bribery charges.

Right-wing politicians and social media users rejoiced at Ben Liat’s announcement of her resignation. One person wrote: “Gallant and Ben Ari? Wow, 2025 is starting off great!”

Channel 14 journalist Yinon Magal wrote: “Another one joins the list – Liat Ben Ari is going home.”

Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir wrote: “The resignation of tailor [the Hebrew word for fabricating a case also means ‘to sew’] Liat Ben Ari does not provide immunity from an inquiry committee that will examine the framing of cases against the prime minister. The truth must come to light!”

A social media user wrote: “Ben Ari should be prosecuted for fraud and political persecution using state tools.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)