The Jerusalem District Court judges in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am and Oded Shaham, released the main points of a June 20 closed-door conversation with prosecutors. The defense in Case 4000. Netanyahu is accused in this case of obtaining positive coverage on Walla! The news site, owned at the time by Shaul Elovitch, was exchanged for preferential treatment by the Ministry of Communications for the Bezeq telecommunications company, which was then controlled by Elovitch.
The judges’ announcement read: “The parties were initially informed of the opinion that there were difficulties proving the offense of bribery on the first count in the indictment. Because of these difficulties, it was suggested that the State consider withdrawing the offense of bribery from this indictment. This order was the sole reason for the arraignment The parties to the meeting. And it was confirmed at the meeting that these things were said with caution. The arbitration committee was due to the sensitivity of the matter. And none of those present expressed any reservations about holding the meeting in this way, and no one requested a record of minutes.”
The declaration states that Judith Terosch, the prosecuting attorney in Case 4000, said that the state viewed things differently, that it would relay what was said to its superiors, and that at this point only a partial picture had been presented to the court.
The judges say, following the prosecuting lawyer’s statements, “that a short discussion was held with the lawyers of both sides, at the end of which the need to end the trial was mentioned (for the sake of the subject itself and for the sake of the country), without indicating the manner in which the trial could end, and without referring to its result.”
It becomes clear that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies the actions attributed to him, has not been convicted of any crime, and is entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Published by Globes, Israel business news – en.globes.co.il – on June 29, 2023.
© Copyright Globes Publisher Itonut (1983) Ltd., 2023.
