Walla! News owner Elovitch: Quoting Livni is bad for Netanyahu
Whatsapp messages from Bezeq and Walla! owner Shaul Elovitch reveal close ties to Prime Minister Netanyahu; Messages show Elovitch complain to CEO of Walla about a flattering article on Tzipi Livni and declare himself as the new communications minister.
According to a report on Channel Ten, in January 2015, a complementary article on MK Tzipi Livni was published on Walla! News, accompanied by quote from her. Following the publication, Elovitch sent a Whatsapp message to Walla! News CEO Ilan Yeshua, asking him “Why are you quoting Tzipi? It’s bad for Netanyahu.”
Yeshua replied that “It’s impossible to ignore the leaders of other parties and focus only on Netanyahu. I have to mention Tzipi.”
Elovitch responded, saying “But Tzipi doesn’t have to approve anything.” While he didn’t specify what Netanyahu had to approve for him, it's important to note that at the time talks on the purchase of telecommunications giant Bezeq were still ongoing.
Case 4000, an investigation conducted by the Israel Police and Israel Securities Authority on the Bezeq-Walla deal, questions whether Netanyahu, during his tenure as communications minister, promoted the financial interests of Elovitch and Bezeq in exchange for a favorable coverage of him and his wife on the Walla! News website.
The police and the State Attorney’s Office consider the correspondence highly important, and Elovitch was confronted with this evidence in the investigation room.
Tzipi Livni said in response, “This is another corrupt attempt by Netanyahu to take control of the Israeli media and win the election using non-kosher methods.”
“We saw it happen in real time, me and Herzog even conducted a meeting with Walla! News’ editors, since it was truly biased,” added Livni.
Elovitch’s attorney Jack Chen said, “We’re talking about a malicious leak. The false details which have been forwarded to us for a response completely change the meaning of things and take them out of context. Leaking materials from the investigation crosses all the red lines and our right for due process has been trampled over.”
According to Channel 2 News, in 2014, when the position of the communication minister became available at the end of the year, Elovitch had another problematic outburst. When asked who will be appointed as the next communications minister, Elovitch exclaimed “I am a communications minister,” a witness told police.
In response to this allegation, Elovitch’s attorney claimed “It never happened. Another malicious leak designed to put pressure on Mr. Elovitch and to destroy the possibility of due process."
