The prosecution in the public corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu played an explosive recording on Tuesday for the Jerusalem District Court of Iris Elovitch describing her commitment to the alleged media bribery scheme underlying Case 4000.
She is the wife of Shaul Elovitch, the owner of both the Walla media outlet and the Bezeq telecommunications giant, which are among the main actors in Case 4000, dubbed the Bezeq-Walla Affair.
In a recording of Iris Elovitch speaking to former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua on November 9, 2016, she said: “I told Shaul that I am ready, for the group [Bezeq], to sell my soul to the devil.”
The context of her statement was an extensive conversation in which she demanded that Yeshua “fix” various “problems” at Walla with employees who were not cooperating fully with the Elovitches’ orders to slant coverage in favor of Netanyahu.
Iris Elovitch demanded that Yeshua “handle” some of these Walla employees and bring in new ones who would play ball more with systematically pro-Netanyahu coverage.
During the recording, she also warned Yeshua that part of their problem was Yair Netanyahu, because even when the prime minister or his wife, Sara, are happy with a headline or photo of them online, Yair analyzes issues more deeply.
For example, Elovitch said Yair would tell his mother the photo was a good photo, but it was placed in a lower and weaker spot on the website, and that she and the Netanyahu family’s messengers should ensure it is placed more prominently.
Tuesday is the seventh and likely final day of the prosecution’s questioning of Yeshua, who recorded conversations with Iris Elovitch and others and handed them over to the prosecution.
The prosecution also played a second recording of Iris Elovitch speaking to Yeshua only a few days later on November 14, 2016, in which she claimed the Israel Hayom newspaper was insufficiently loyal to the Netanyahu family.
In the exchange, Yeshua tried to convince her that a story the Netanyahus complained about was acceptable because Walla only posted it after Israel Hayom had run it.
Israel Hayom was founded in 2016 and owned by the late Sheldon Adelson, a close ally of Netanyahu.
Iris Elovitch is recorded as saying: “But listen, I am explaining. You want me to tell you again that Israel Hayom is having a problem?”
Yeshua: “How can Israel Hayom have a problem? I don’t understand. Israel Hayom does everything that they [the Netanyahus] want. I read the headlines every day.”
Elovitch: “They are angry with Israel Hayom.”
Yeshua: “Also regarding Israel Hayom?”
Elovitch: “Yes. There is Dan Margalit and Moti Gilat, and there is that one that fell through [the cracks and is not being pro-Netanyahu enough], and [Israel Hayom founder Amos] Regev is not controlling them.”
Case 4000 alleges that Netanyahu favored Bezeq in government policy in exchange for positive coverage from Walla.
In response to the developments, Iris Elovitch’s lawyer, Michal Rozin, said: “It cannot be that the prosecutor stops [playing the recording for the court] a moment before Iris talks about objective headlines. Because in the continuation of the recording, Iris says, ‘The headlines need to be objective, interesting and objective, but not, not to express an opinion, such as that the campaign was successful. You understand? That would be expressing an opinion.’”
“There are parts of the recording where Iris Elovitch says she ‘does not work for anyone’ [such as Netanyahu],” she said. “But there was no reference to this. There is an uneven presentation to the court.”
The prosecution is being selective and trying to mislead the court about Iris Elovitch’s character and actions, Rozin said.
Later on Tuesday, the Jerusalem District Court agreed to a two-week postponement request by the defense before they start their cross-examination.
Officially, the defense was due to start cross-examining Yeshua on Wednesday and to continue three days a week until they finished.
However, the defense had requested several weeks or a month to prepare their cross-examination in light of new issues raised by Yeshua, which he had not explicitly stated when testifying to police.
The prosecution objected, saying whatever Yeshua had added was minor and that the vast majority of his testimony was in the hands of the defense for 18 months to two years.
The two-week postponement by the court overruled the prosecution’s opposition but did not give the defense as much time as it had asked for.
On May 3, the court will hold a hearing to resolve ongoing evidentiary disputes between the sides, and on May 4, the cross-examination will begin.
Ironically, May 4 is also the date that Netanyahu’s mandate to form a government is set to expire.