Israel’s Netanyahu denies bribery allegations, claims no personal role in Bezeq deal

On the sixth day of his testimony in his corruption trial, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued to downplay his relationship with Shaul Elovitch, the former controlling shareholder of Bezeq. Netanyahu is accused of striking a bribery deal with Elovitch, allegedly offering regulatory benefits to Bezeq in exchange for favorable coverage on the Walla news site, which Elovitch owned.

Netanyahu argued that the benefits granted to Bezeq in 2013 were prepared by his staff without his direct involvement, and he was not fully aware of their content when he signed the documents, according to Hebrew media reports, News.Az reports, Israeli media.

He said that his relationship with Elovitch at the time wasn’t close or personal, and that their acquaintance had taken place in a meeting with a big group of leading businesspeople.

“There was no bribery-tainted relationship before or after [signing the approvals]. I think it’s pretty interesting that these approvals are included in the charges,” he said.

After that, Netanyahu argued that a Walla story at the time highlighting that his son Yair was dating a non-Jewish woman was “aimed at harming support of me among my voter base.”

The story ended up being taken down, and is cited in the indictment as one of hundreds of examples of intervention in the site’s coverage to benefit the prime minister.

Netanyahu said that the story was taken down after more than 10 hours, at 8 p.m. that day, meaning “it was at the end of the [news] cycle” and constitutes “failure to accede [to his circle’s request].”

At the same time, Netanyahu asserted that Walla was a “marginal” news outlet and that its coverage hadn’t affected him “in any way.”

News.Az