Reports: Judges in Netanyahu trial tell prosecution bribery charge has little chance

The judges presiding over the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu have told prosecutors in the case that the bribery charge against the premier will be difficult to prove, Hebrew media outlets reported Thursday.

According to Walla and Channel 13, the judges convened with state prosecutors and Netanyahu’s defense team in their chambers in order to discuss the complexities involved in substantiating the bribery charge against the prime minister in Case 4000, the most significant of the three cases against Netanyahu that make up the trial.

Also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, it focuses on allegations that Netanyahu, during a previous tenure as prime minister, authorized regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received favorable media coverage from the Walla news site, also owned by Elovitch. Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the case. READ MORE