Police suspect PM and Elovitch discussed Bezeq's merger with Yes
Is this the 'smoking gun' the case 4000's investigators have? Police have evidence that the PM and Bezeq owner met at the PM's residence in Jerusalem ahead of an important meeting at the Cable and Satellite Council and discussed the merger; State's witness Nir Hefetz coordinated the meeting; Netanyahu said that the case has completely fallen apart, the police think otherwise.
Sources involved in the case 4000 investigation said on Friday that the police have evidence that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch discussed Bezeq's merger with Yes Satellite Firm.
The two discussed the merger at a meeting held at the prime minister's residence on Balfour Street in Jerusalem.
According to testimonies gathered by the police, the meeting was set in a hurry, at the request of Elovitch, before an important meeting about the merger between Bezeq and Yes at the Cable and Satellite Council.
Netanyahu and Elovitch, who were questioned Friday, did not deny the existence of the meeting or any other meeting, but each claimed separately that they had not discussed Bezeq.
Shlomo Filber, former Communications Ministry Director and the second state witness was also invited to some of the meetings, in case issues need to be resolved.
According to recent reports, Minister of Public Security, Gilad Erdan, gave a testimony regarding the case a few weeks ago.
The police questioned him about his previous role as the communication minister, the way in which he conducted himself as opposed to Netanyahu, and also asked him about his policy toward Bezeq. The prime minister was confronted with this testimony during police questioning Friday.
After Netanyahu was grilled by the police for four hours Friday morning, a statement made on behalf of the primes minister was released.
"The facts unequivocally prove that Netanyahu's coverage in Walla! News when Shaul Elovitch's was the majority shareholder, remained as negative as when Walla was owned by Amos Schocken, and did not change in the slightest when Netanyahu became Minister of Communications," the statement read.
"On the other hand, other communications ministers received a tremendous boost in positive media coverage after taking office—not only by Walla! News, but by other major media outlets as well.
"No one claims, and rightly so, that there is something wrong with that, however, Netanyahu did not receive such a boost in positive media coverage, and so, this is another explanation for the crumbling 4000 case," the statement concluded.
Contrary to the statement, the police say they continue to stick to the case and evidence they have.
The investigation involves suspicions that Bezeq majority shareholder Elovitch and Netanyahu had a quid pro quo relationship in which Bezeq enjoyed regulatory benefits in return for favorable coverage of the Netanyahu family on Walla! News, which is owned by the telecommunications giant.
As was published last week in Ynet and Yedioth Ahronoth, Netanyahu and Elovitch allegedly had a secret meeting in 2015 ahead of an important discussion at the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council on the merger of telecommunications giant Bezeq and satellite TV company Yes
