Case 1000
Netanyahu is suspected of accepting lavish gifts, worth about $280,000 throughout several years from billionaire friends, mainly Israeli-born Hollywood film producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Pacher. The gifts include expensive champagne, cigars, jewelry, flights and hotel rooms. Netanyahu is accused of pushing for retaining a returned citizen’s benefits law, favorable to tycoons that would provide tax relief for Milchan worth hundreds of thousands of dollars.
Case 2000
Involves the leading Israeli newspaper Yedioth Aharonot, which is unfavorable to Netanyahu, and the daily free distribution newspaper Israel Hayom, (owned by American billionaire Sheldon Adelson, who is favorable to Netanyahu) that poses a serious financial threat to Yediot, especially its most popular weekend edition. Netanyahu is accused of conspiring with Yediot owner, Arnon Moses to help limit the distribution of Israel Hayom’s weekend distribution in return for Yediot giving him more favorable coverage and less favorable coverage to Netanyahu’s foes.
Police finished investigating both cases 1000 and 2000 and have recommended indicting Netanyahu for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in both of them. It is now up to the attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit to investigate the police recommendations and decide whether it has enough evidence to prosecute Netanyahu. The process could take months. Recent opinion polls show public support for Netanyahu is still strong.
Although recordings of secret talks exist, Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing in both cases. In case 1000 he claimed the gifts were just gifts between friends, with nothing expected in return. In case 2000 he denied the allegations that he offered any favors in return for favorable coverage in Yediot, and that the recording of conversations with Moses was actually to catch Moses in his wrongdoings.
Case 3000
Case 3000 alleges bribes solicited during negotiations between a German industrial giant company and members of the Israeli government over the purchase of new submarines from the German company for Israel’s navy. Netanyahu is not a suspect yet, but several intimate associates of Netanyahu, including his former personal lawyer David Shimron, have been arrested on suspicion of the crimes.
Case 4000
Case 4000 is also known as the Bezeq (the national telephone company and communications giant, which includes Walla internet news site) corruption case. Suspects in bribe accusations include among others the controlling shareholder of Bezeq Shaul Elovitch, director-general of Israel’s Communications Ministry Shlomo Filber, and longtime Netanyahu family spokesman and close confidant Nir Hefetz. Elovitch in accused of illicitly allowing Bezeq to buy shares of Yes, a satellite cable provider, a move that would be benefiting Elovitch in hundreds of millions of dollars. He is also accused of ordering the Walla news site to give Netanyahu and his family favorable coverage in exchange for the prime minister advancing regulations in the merger with Yes.
Three allies turned witnesses for the State against Netanyahu.
The three men who were very close to Netanyahu were accused of bribery and were detained for investigations. At first, they claimed loyalty to Netanyahu, denying any of the allegations against him. Eventually, they were broken and made a deal with the police to save their own necks.
First to become the state’s witness in Case 1000 (gifts to Netanyahu from Arnon Milchan and others) and Case 3000 (submarines) was Netanyahu’s former chief of staff Ari Harow.
Then, in Case 4000 it was Shlomo Filber, who was director general of the Ministry of Communications when Netanyahu was serving as Minister of Communications. Harow and Filber have already given detailed and apparently incriminating testimony against Netanyahu.
The last one, and apparently the most damaging to Netanyahu was Nir Hefetz, former media adviser to the Prime Minister and a long time close confidant of the Netanyahu family. He was arrested on suspicion of bribery to help promote regulation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Bezeq telecom company in return for favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his family by the Walla news website. At first, Hefetz said he did it on his own initiative. After signing the agreement to become a state witness, he changed his testimony and will receive in return full immunity. Police believe that Hefetz has a great deal of information about Netanyahu’s involvement in the various cases under investigation and that eventually, they will be able to get a conviction on Netanyahu in all the cases against him.
Netanyahu has denied wrongdoing in all the cases, saying he is the victim of a politically motivated media-driven witch hunt aimed at toppling him. Amazingly he has many supporters who believe in him, repeating his repeated slogan, that “There will be nothing because there is nothing.”
Leave a Reply