The corruption probes and “revelations” swirling around the prime minister are becoming a political threat – even without indictments. The signing of a plea bargain by former Communications Ministry Director General Shlomo Filber early Wednesday, Feb. 21 – for testimony against the prime minister in Dossier 4000 – tops the critical mass building up politically against Netanyahu. Filber’s testimony may or may not confirm police suspicion that in 2015, he supplied insider information to a friend of the prime minister, Shaul Elovitch, a tycoon whose businesses included the big telecom company Bezeq. Netanyahu then held Communications portfolio. Filber’s consent to the plea bargain is in itself a political blow for the prime minister. He shot back with a denial of involvement in this case, explaining that when he held that portfolio, all decision-making for Bezeq regularly passed through and required the approval of all the relevant professional and legal channels.While the content of Filber’s testimony is still an unknown factor, what is known is that two former dossiers, 1000 and 2000, which were treated as major bribe scandals for more than a year, are languishing for insufficient evidence, although then too a plea bargain was signed with a suspect. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit is still not satisfied with the police case of graft against the prime minister and is considering reducing the charge to breach of trust or fraud, or even closure.
As for Dossier 4000, which comes up to fill the empty space, Filber will be asked if he acted for prime minister in allegedly promoting Elovitch’s multimillion business interests, in return for favorable coverage for Netanyahu and members of his family by the Internet news site Walla! which is owned by the tycoon. The flimsiness of this charge derives from the site’s negligible standing and influence.
Yet the buildup of “revelations” has driven Netanyahu, who withstood a mainly hostile media for 12 years, to use Facebook for a video in which he points out that none of the police probes have so far proved any cases against him. “Every two hours, someone invents a new case,” he claims. “They will soon accuse me of murdering Arlozorov” (The reference is to the never-solved political murder that shook the Jewish community in pre-state Israel of 1933). READ MORE
