PM Netanyahu and Nir Hefetz
Photo: Alex Kolomoisky
Authorities mull confronting Netanyahu couple with Nir Hefetz
Move would mark an aberration in handling of corruption probes against the premier and his wife, but their former media advisor-turned state's witness reportedly agreed to confront the two as part of his deal if required.
Israel’s investigation authorities are considering scheduling a meeting between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara, and their former media advisor-turned state's witness, Nir Hefetz
as part of the Bezeq corruption affair,
pitting the two sides against each other as they present their version of events.
Netanyahu is suspected in the scandal, also known as Case 4000, of providing benefits to the Bezeq communications giant in return for favorable coverage on the Walla! News site, which the latter owns.
An arranged confrontation between the two former allies would constitute an aberration in the handling of the myriad corruption cases involving the prime minister, since thus far the police have refrained from organizing such a scenario between two other state’s witnesses who agreed to testify against Netanyahu.
Suspended Communications Ministry Director-General Shlomo Filber, who for a time was Netanyahu's right-hand man, recently agreed to serve as a state witness in the investigation while the former chief of staff at the Prime Minister's Office, Ari Harow, signed a state's witness agreement in Case 1000 and Case 2000.
Nife Hefetz (L) and PM Netanyahu (Photo: Amit Shabi)
According to officials familiar with the details of the investigation, Hefetz could be brought to the prime minister’s official residence in Jerusalem at some stage in the near future to testify about things that he witnessed and personally heard, including alleged instructions regarding news coverage on Walla! News controlled by Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch.
When Hefetz inked the state’s witness deal, authorities informed him that part of his obligation would be to confront anyone they asked—a demand with which he said he was ready to comply unconditionally.
Ynet learned Wednesday that Hefetz also has dirt on two other Likud ministers and two senior members of the party. While police scrambled to clarify that he had not yet provided any incriminating evidence against anyone, officials privy to the details claim that he does, however, know about suspicious incidents involving the ministers.
While he has yet to provide his full testimony, Hefetz claimed that the work he conducted with those senior officials, as part of a larger framework of projects at the Ministries of Health and Environmental Protection, was carried out with a substantive conflict of interests, abuse of authority and nepotism.
(Photo: Reuters)
“Hefetz was connected with many officials in the public service and in government offices,” said one of the officials. “If he decides to speak about it all there are many more who will have to hide.”
Shortly before heading back to Israel from his five-day trip to the US, Netanyahu again rejected the claims and reports being made about the different investigations against him, complaining that he and his wife "were under attack all the time, every hour and every minute."
"A prime minister is allowed to seek justice. I won't remain silent, I am telling the truth," Netanyahu told Israeli reporters after a visit to the United Nations headquarters in New York.
