Netanyahu's corruption trial testimony ends early on Monday

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial testimony ended early on Monday.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged at his Monday corruption trial that the State Attorney's office had attempted to influence the 2019 elections through leaks, making the remarks in response to an N12 report about an alleged 2015 meeting between then Communication Ministry director Shlomo Filber and Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch.

Netanyahu said that the report was a lie and that he was not approving or being kept up to date about an alleged meeting discussing canceling anti-monopoly measures against Bezeq. The prime minister said that the measures finished being implemented three months prior, and there was no approval discussed regarding the Bezeq-Yes merger.

The report came just before the election, and the prime minister charged that 99% of the State Attorney's office was against him and had leaked "a lie upon a lie upon a lie" in order to impact the election.

The prosecution objected to the allegations, calling defense attorney Amit Haddad a "chutzpan" for his line of questioning.

Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman expressed impatience over the allegations and disagreement, urging Haddad to continue his examination of Netanyahu.

Bezeq was in a better financial state under the tenure of a Communication Ministry director that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu allegedly fired for not advancing policies in the telecommunication company's favor, the Israeli leader argued during his Monday corruption trial testimony.

While former Communication Ministry director Shlomo Filber was alleged by investigators to have been appointed to help advance policies to Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch's benefit, Netanyahu said that the company did better under his predecessor Avi Berger.

"It's completely the reverse," said Netanyahu, who slammed investigators for allegedly ignoring information that didn't support their theory.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied at his Monday corruption trial testimony that there was a follow-up call to former Communication Ministry director Shlomo Filber to issue directives in favor of co-defendant Shaul Elovitch's Bezeq, accusing investigators of lying and manipulating information to further their allegations.

Netanyahu said that the early 2016 follow-up call with Filber regarding a late 2015 meeting about Bezeq occurred and contended that the investigators had not asked him about it or presented him with Filber's account of events during interrogations. The subject of the conversation was an article about conflict of interest agreement issues with Elovitch. Netanyahu said that he had acquiesced to safeguards against conflict of interest regarding his role as then-Communication Minister, but this was ignored by investigators. He slammed investigators for knowing the truth and concealing the information.

"There are two things here: Concealing the truth and when the truth is revealed -- ignoring the truth," said Netanyahu.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested and received a non-urgent break to address a matter conveyed to him in an envelope that had been passed to him during his Monday corruption trial testimony.
 
 
 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu explained that he had threatened to fire former Communication Ministry director Shlomo Filber in 2015 because he was dissatisfied with the advancement of telecommunications market reforms, the Israeli leader explained at his Monday corruption trial testimony, asserting that the meeting was not about advancing policies beneficial to co-defendant Shaul Elovitch's Bezeq.

Filber had previously testified that Netanyahu warned him that if he had worked in the private sector, the aide would have been fired by now. Netanyahu said during his Monday testimony that he was interested in more steady advancement in market reforms and did not give Filber any directives regarding Bezeq or not to discuss the matter.

"Bezeq didn't interest me; what interested me was governance," said Netanyahu. 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial testimony renewed for the eighteenth time on Monday morning, as protesters gathered outside the Tel Aviv District Courthouse to demonstrate against the Israeli leader's office's alleged relationship with Qatar and his move to dismiss Shin Bet head Ronen Bar.