Former Walla owner Shaul Elovitch was too afraid of Walla staff and leadership to push them to change news coverage, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu alleged during his Monday corruption trial testimony concerning an alleged scheme for positive coverage in exchange for favorable policies to Elovitch's Bezeq communications company.
In a review of text messages between Elovitch and Walla leadership, the co-defendant in 2015 had advocated for coordination with former Netanyahu aide Nir Hefetz to find supporters of the prime minister's policies to interview because Netanyahu had supposedly "killed himself" to help the Bezeq owner.
Netanyahu denied that his Communication Ministry had helped Elovitch with any policies, claiming that Elovitch had made up a story about not wanting to be in debt to the Israeli leader because he was afraid of disagreeing with the "cult" in Walla.
Netanyahu said that the manner in which Elovitch sought to alter coverage demonstrated a lack of will to implement a supposed media bribery scheme, as well as fear to ask about writing more neutrally or positively about the Likud or prime minister. As the owner, he could have ordered Walla staff to shift to a pro-Likud website or fire staff that disagreed with him, but he didn't out of fear of their backlash, explained Netanyahu.
"He was simply afraid," said Netanyahu.
In other internal communications presented by defense attorney Amit Haddad for Netanyahu to review, the defense argued that Walla gave less favorable treatment to Netanyahu than other outlets despite allegations of a media bribery scheme, highlighting texts critical of press statements from his camp.
Former Walla owner Shaul Elovitch had spoken to Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua about a story that Ynet had allegedly published almost word for word from a press release. Haddad noted that there were no allegations of an unusual relationship between Netanyahu and Ynet.
Yeshua reportedly told Elovitch that Walla did more due diligence in their review of press releases, which the defense argued showed how much more the outlet was critical of content related to Netanyahu.
Hadad also highlighted call logs that supposedly indicated that Netanyahu's relationship with Elovitch wasn't close in 2016. He noted a one-second conversation in which Netanyahu related that he had not discussed anything of importance.
"Based on the logs, you didn't talk for another 14 months -- how much would you say this characterized your relationship?" asked Haddad.
"Very much," said Netanyahu. "We weren't that close. My relationship with him exists, but it's not particularly close."
Netanyahu said that testimonies that indicated otherwise were made up due to pressure from interrogators.
Allegations of coordination for positive coverage
The Prime Minister further disputed allegations about coordination between his camp and Walla for positive news coverage. Netanyahu said that he was not in contact with his friend and alleged scheme middleman Zeev Rubinstein about changes to Walla's coverage, such as one article pertaining to his wife, Sara. Rubinstein supposedly pursued changes of his own accord or due to intervention by Sara or one of the prime minister's sons, which Netanyahu said he was not aware of.
"Rubinstein didn't talk to me," Netanyahu said, insisting text records indicated that he was not involved.
In the example of a story about Sara Netanyahu's 2015 visit to a Lod school, the municipality had put out the statement. Netanyahu denied knowing about requests to send a camera crew.
The prime minister noted that other outlets had covered the item in a more neutral manner than Walla, which he said had presented it negatively. Netanyahu remarked that he knew nothing about Rubinstein's messages to Walla, which indicated that Sara wasn't happy with the coverage.
In review of other articles and the communications surrounding them, Netanyahu argued that involvement in their publication was beneath him.
"No one is telling me what [articles] are now on Walla, it's on that site or another," said Netanyahu. "Who cares anyway?"
Netanyahu attacked the indictment against him, calling for an indictment into what he characterized as a campaign against him exemplified by the gathering of standard press releases and exaggerating them into proof of corruption.
"This is corruption?" Netanyahu asked repeatedly
Investigations into the allegations against him had halted the building of fiber optic infrastructure in a deal with Elovitch's Bezeq, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu complained, with the defense citing a 2020 Knesset economy committee meeting, that he ensuing legal process cost Israel NIS 13 million a year because the lines were not build.
"It's all because of this witch hunt," said Netanyahu. "These insane trials are hurting our progress. The world is continuing, and we are stuck."
Netanyahu denied that government policy was altered to benefit Elovitch, rejecting former Communication Ministry director Shlomo Filber's interrogation testimony that there was a code in which they discussed issues with Bezeq and government policy.
"A complete lie," said Netanyahu. "There was no code, I didn't approve a code."
Netanyahu indicated that he believed that Filber's testimony was the result of pressure by interrogators and the State Attorney's office.
In 2022 Filber explained in a testimony that there was a "code" of shorthand for conversation about the continuance of former communication minister Moshe Kahlon's policies.
At the beginning of the hearing, Netanyahu requested that a doctor attend the courthouse to check him. Eventually the doctor checked him, but later the hearing ended earlier for an additional check-up. It was discovered that Netanyahu suffered from a scratched cornea, which could be treated with eye drops.
Wednesday's hearing was canceled, with the following week set to instead hold three Netanyahu testimonies.