The statements of Sheldon and Miriam Adelson to police in Case 2000 contradict and eviscerate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s narrative, Channel 1 reported Sunday night, citing anonymous police sources.
In Case 2000, Netanyahu is suspected of trying to convince Adelson to make his newspaper Israel Hayom less competitive with Yediot Aharonot in exchange for positive coverage from Yediot.
The police leak could be an attempt to press Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit to take a more positive view of the case.
Until now, The Jerusalem Post has previously reported that Mandelblit viewed Case 2000 as the weakest of the cases against Netanyahu, even as former top state attorney Moshe Lador had called it a slam dunk.
Mandelblit believed that it was much more difficult to prove intent and a quid pro quo in Case 2000 than in Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla Affair, where Netanyahu helped push through a merger that concretely and massively benefited Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch.The police recommended in February to indict the prime minister for bribery in Case 2000.According to Channel 1, the Adelsons’ testimony, confirmed by Israel Hayom editor Amos Regev, would be devastating because they have been stalwart supporters of Netanyahu and have nothing to gain by providing testimony that undermines his alibi.Netanyahu has said that when he offered the deal – and he was taped making the offer to Yediot owner Arnon “Nuni” Mozes – Netanyahu was playing an elaborate game to have something to hold over Mozes, whom he thought was trying to game him, and whom he felt was covering him in an unfairly negative way.