The former Walla CEO appeared in the Jerusalem District Court to continue his testimony as part of the evidentiary hearing at the Netanyahu trial • The Prime Minister is not expected to be present in the courtroom
The testimony of former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua will be resumed this morning (Tuesday) in the Jerusalem District Court, as part of the discussion of Case 4000 at the evidentiary stage in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial. The Prime Minister is not expected to be present in the courtroom after receiving an exemption.
PM Netanyahu at the evidentiary hearing in court in Jerusalem, yesterday // Photo: Reuters, Yoni Rickner
Yesterday, in the first discussion of the evidentiary phase, he spoke in detail about what he described as blatant intervention on the part of businessman Shaul Alovich, one of the site's owners, in what was happening in the news system and in particular in the prime minister's coverage.
In this case, it will be recalled, Netanyahu is accused of receiving positive coverage on the Walla website in exchange for various regulatory benefits, which he granted to Elowitz thanks to his governmental power and connections as prime minister and communications minister.
Yeshua, the main witness in the case, answered questions from Yehudit Tirosh, director of the securities department at the State Attorney's Office, when Netanyahu was not present in the courtroom.
"Most of the requests (from Malovich) concerned the prime minister and his family," he said.
"Elovich told me to do whatever Snir Hefetz asks for."
He added for hours how he was pressured by the Elowitz, Iris and Shaul couple, and turned the site into a server tool for the Netanyahu family: "At the end of 2012 and the launch of Walla as a news site, requests began to arrive regarding editing considerations in the field within the site. "They touched the prime minister and his family," he revealed.
According to him, the requests concerned the downloading of negative articles against Benjamin, Sarah or Yair Netanyahu, along with a demand for the airing of positive articles and critical articles against Netanyahu's opponents - including Naftali Bennett, Ayelet Shaked, Uri Ariel and Moshe Kahlon.
