Netanyahu, family suspected of collaborating with Hefetz in obstruction of justice
In light of state's witness Hefetz's testimony that he ordered Bezeq majority shareholder Elovitch destroy evidence of collusion with Netanyahu and his family, police now seek to investigate the Netanyahu family over suspicions they took part in his obstruction of justice.
The police expressed interest in investigating the prime minister, his wife Sara and his son Yair, in order to ascertain whether they destroyed evidence related to the investigation into possible collusion between them and Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch, also known as the Bezeq affair, or Case 4000.
This concern came in the wake of a testimony of Nir Hefetz, the former media adviser to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu who turned state's witness in the affair, according to which he ordered Elovitch and his wife Iris to delete correspondence regarding the affair and destroy all evidence of favorable coverage given to the Netanyahu family on the Bezeq-owned Walla! News website.
Channel 2 News reported Monday that investigators working on the case do not believe Hefetz acted on his own accord when he gave the order, and therefore are considering questioning Netanyahu on suspicion of obstructing an investigation.
Although Netanyahu does not have a mobile phone, and it is doubtful he sent any message that can prove his guilt, the suspicion is that he gave instructions to Hefetz, perhaps in person, which Hefetz then followed.
Investigators also noted they have information that leads them to suspect Sara and Yair may have had a hand in the obstruction, and are interested in interrogating them as well.
According to Hefetz's testimony, he told Shaul and Iris Elovitch to erase SMS messages they received from Sara regarding the favorable coverage and destroy their phones.
Channel 10 News reported Yair took part in correspondences over the nature of the coverage of his family on Walla! News, and that the police had text messages he sent to Hefetz on the subject, in which he resented the fact that coverage of his parents was negative.
According to the report, Hefetz stated in his testimony that Yair Netanyahu also knew about the benefits given to Bezeq in exchange of the favorable coverage.
It was said on Netanyahu's behalf in response to the reports that "the leaks of materials from the investigation, even if false, are the real attempts at disrupting the investigation.
"The prime minister always acted according to the law. The claims about (his and his family's) purported disruption of justice are nonsense."
