Netanyahu to be grilled in 'Bezeq affair' on Friday for the last time
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the accusations in the case.
By TAMARA ZIEVEPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the cabinet meeting July 29, 2018(photo credit: ALEX KOLOMOISKY / POOL)
The Israel Police will question Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Friday for the final time in connection with Case 4000, also known as the “Bezeq affair,” and it is expected police will recommend that an indictment be filed against him, Channel 2 reported on Tuesday.Unless there are significant developments in Friday’s interrogation, police investigators will be assumed to have gathered sufficient evidence of bribery in order to reccomend an indictment against Netanyahu, according to Channel 2 reporter Moshe Nussbaum.“It’s scandalous that first they decide and afterward they investigate,” the prime minister’s spokesman said in response to the report. “So why do they need to investigate?”In Case 4000, the prime minister is alleged to have ordered top aide Shlomo Filber – who he appointed as director-general of the Communications Ministry – to issue favorable rulings for Bezeq. That reportedly included getting anti-trust regulators to approve Bezeq’s merger with satellite TV unit Yes.Bezeq’s news site Walla has been accused of exchanging that favor for giving positive coverage to Netanyahu and his wife, with the prime minister’s aide Nir Hefetz managing the contact. Hefetz agreed to become a state’s witness, testifying against his former boss.Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Walla, its controlling shareholder and former Bezeq chairman, is said to have coordinated the coverage.Netanyahu has repeatedly denied the accusations.
