The leaks from the testimony by Ari Harow, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's former chief of staff, in a corruption case that allegedly implicates the prime minister, are a very serious development. Harow signed a state's witness deal on Friday, the details of which have been placed under a gag order. He is expected to testify in two cases involving the prime minister: Case 1,000, which centers on gifts Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, allegedly received from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and others; and Case 2,000, which focuses on conversations Netanyahu held with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes allegedly discussing an illicit deal by which Yedioth would soften its aggressive anti-Netanyahu stance in return for the prime minister using his influence to curtail the activities of Israel Hayom -- Yedioth Ahronoth's chief competition -- in a way that would benefit Yedioth financially. As chief of staff and a confidant of the prime minister, Harow is believed to have been present at some of the meetings between Netanyahu and Mozes, and the police believe he recorded the conversations that led to the investigation. But Case 2,000 is a unilateral fishing expedition, start to finish. Mozes had discussed Israel Hayom's future with dozens of politicians in the fall of 2014, which gave way to an anti-democratic bill meant to shut the newspaper down -- a bill that passed its preliminary reading and was shelved over the 2015 elections. Of all the politicians Mozes contacted, only one man rejected his demands. That man was Benjamin Netanyahu. We know little of the nature of the conversations between Netanyahu and Mozes beyond the little that was leaked. But one thing is clear without a shadow of a doubt: nothing Mozes asked of Netanyahu came to fruition, but what he asked of other lawmakers and party heads -- the same ones who co-sponsored the bill to silence a right-wing media outlet -- did come to pass. If Netanyahu is eventually indicted for bribery over something he did not do, shouldn't the police review the conduct of the 43 MKs who voted in favor of the anti-Israel Hayom bill? This will not require pressuring associates and recruiting state witnesses -- all the police have to do is read the plenum's minutes or search Google. The police could, for example, question Zionist Union MK Eitan Cabel, who admitted that he and Mozes had spoken about the bill, or interview then-Justice Minister Tzipi Livni who used a legal brief prepared by Yedioth Ahronoth when she endorsed the bill. They could also review the clandestine advertising deals between Yesh Atid MKs and Yedioth Ahronoth, or the "no-attack" deal between the newspaper, Yesh Atid and the Zionist Union during the 2015 elections, which strategic adviser Lior Horev recently revealed to Army Radio. There is plenty to do if you are willing to do it. What we have been witnessing over the past year is a deliberate and premeditated move that has left no stone unturned -- the Prime Minister's Residence's expenses, gifts, travel expenses, submarine deals, conversations with publishers, etc. -- in an effort to find "something" against the prime minister. This endless fishing expedition will not stop until a nail is found from which to hang an indictment that would bring about Netanyahu's desired political downfall. Last week, Haaretz's political commentator Yossi Verter inadvertently exposed this: About a year ago, when the police first began closing in on Harow, he wrote that "we can't rule out the possibility that one of the prime minister's close associates would turn state's witness." How did he know? He got his information from "sources privy to the investigation," which led him to deduct last week that "even back then, investigators were aiming for the person at the top." Is it a not coincidence that the torrent of leaks is always unilateral and always provides incriminating information against the prime minister. It may very well be the hallmark of a deliberate campaign. But the truly serious thing is that this massive pressure may push Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit to exercise selective enforcement. This will erode the rule of law and it will debunk the public's faith in law enforcement. This is how democracies are destroyed. If, as protesters demonstrating outside Mendelblit's home and well-known journalists and elements associated with the New Israel Fund want, the right-wing government will fall over this fishing expedition, it may provoke a public uproar that could sweep the entire country. This is not how you replace the government.
