Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that he had never received special coverage from, or given instructions to Walla – during the latest hearing in which he was questioned by the lawyer representing Shaul and Iris Elovich. Shaul owned Walla and the communication conglomerate Bezeq, both at the heart of Case 4000.
He will be questioned next week by the lawyer representing Arnon “Noni” Mozes. Both attorneys questioned and will question Netanyahu – the primary defendant – on behalf of their clients, in two of the three cases levied against the prime minister.
In Case 4000, the “Walla-Bezeq Affair,” Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly promising to advance regulatory changes beneficial to Elovich’s business interests, in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site. This case holds the weightiest charge of the three – bribery – in addition to fraud and breach-of-trust. Elovich and his wife were charged with bribery, which is what his attorney, Jacques Chen, tried to disprove.
In Case 2000, the “Netanyahu-Mozes Affair,” the relationship between the prime minister and the owner of Yediot Aharonot is under scrutiny.
Allegedly, Mozes offered a bribe to Netanyahu by offering positive coverage of him and his family in the prominent daily and negative coverage of political opponents, in exchange for the advancement of legislation that would force restrictions on Yediot’s rival daily tabloid, Israel Hayom. Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach of trust in Case 2000, while Mozes was charged with attempted bribery.
Once the questioning by Mozes’ attorney is completed, the trial will transition to cross-examination by the prosecution.
Chen continued his line of questioning on Tuesday, in which he portrayed outstandingly favorable treatment by former Walla-CEO turned-state’s-witness Ilan Yeshua toward former prime minister Naftali Bennett.
What this does for Chen is attempt to shatter the premise that there was preferential treatment granted to Netanyahu under the instruction of Walla’s upper management – by showing that this kind of treatment was also routinely offered to other politicians.
Walla hostile in responses, treatment of PM, Netanyahu claims
The prime minister reiterated on Tuesday that he viewed Walla as a left-wing, hostile news outlet, highlighting his purported lack of interest in anything concerning its coverage of him.
He also noted that this treatment extended to standard press release announcements, where, according to him, his spokespeople either received no responses or ones that were hostile. This, Chen showed, was in contrast to the treatment given to other politicians.
“Why didn’t you carry out a proper investigation?” Netanyahu charged the police and prosecution in the courtroom on Tuesday.
Chen showed communications of similar nature between Yeshua and other Walla staffers, and political rivals Avigdor Liberman and Moshe Kahlon.
What this also does is position Yeshua much more in the spotlight as someone of influence over Walla’s coverage of politicians, as he was the one making all the communications and handling all the requests, all of which Chen presented.
“I’m sitting here for eight years on a trial that has dragged the country into rounds and rounds of elections, which no one around the globe understands, by the way,” said Netanyahu. “Any instructions came from the bottom up, they were never issued from my people down to the news. That would be a corruption of the press,” he said.
Chen concluded his arguments on Tuesday, summarized well by the prime minister: “I received no requests at all for favors, and there was no dialogue like that [bribery] of any sort.” Netanyahu repeated what he had said in the past, that any conversations he had with Elovich were on the subject of him trying to convince the media giant that Walla had the potential to become great, but that Elovich’s own limitations had prevented that.
The hearing ended an hour earlier than scheduled, due to security matters. Outside the courthouse, protesters chanted, “Qatari money, October 7 are Netanyahu’s massacres,” and “Blood is on Netanyahu’s hands.”