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Former Director General of the Ministry of Communications: Elovich threatened not to find a job if I promoted the reform

Avi Berger, who was fired by Netanyahu, came forward to testify and told of an implicit threat he received from the former controlling shareholder in Bezeq.

Berger testified that Elovich "was concerned" about the telephony reform that would hurt the company's revenue.

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• The Netanyahu trial

• Shaul Alovich

• Avi Berger

Yael Friedson

Tuesday, 26 October 2021, 10:05 Updated: 10:57

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In the video: Former head of the news desk at Walla!

In the Jerusalem District Court in the hearing of the 4000 case (Walla system!)

Former Ministry of Communications Director General Avi Berger said today (Tuesday) that he had received an implicit threat from former Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elowitz if he was promoted by Raphael at Bezeq. Berger described the meeting, during which Elowitz implicitly threatened him that he would have difficulty finding work: Persuade to drop the telephony reform and not submit the opinion to the High Court. At one point he told me on a personal level about former Communications Ministry director general Shlomo Wax, and at some point he submitted an opinion that Elowitz claimed was false and as a result he lost in court. Elowitz said after he finished his job at the Ministry of Communications, he had a hard time finding a job, and five years after that he turned to Mr. Elowitz to help him find a job, Elowitz told me 'I hope we break up as friends'. I said that I believe our opinion is correct and I hope we will part as friends. "

Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh asked Berger how he understood Elovich's story, and Berger replied, "I understood that this was a kind of implicit threat. . All three said it was an implicit threat, nothing to do with it, keep doing your job. The next day I picked up the phone to Eli Kamir who was sorry that this was what it was and Eli Kamir said he did not know what it was. "

Berger testifies as part of the testimony phase on economic-regulatory issues, relating to transactions at the center of the 4000 case. Yesterday, the first phase of the content witnesses of the Walla! Website ended, beginning with the testimony of former CEO Ilan Yeshua, former editor-in-chief Klein and former desk boss Amit Eshel Walla!'S people described Yeshua's unusual interventions in coverage of the Netanyahu family, according to Yeshua due to pressure exerted on the site's owners, Shaul and Iris Elowitz, who are accused of bribing Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who is accused of taking bribes.

More on Walla!

Netanyahu's trial: The cross-examination of the head of the news system at Walla!

The former continues

To the full article

Berger in court, today (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)

Berger served under Communications Minister Gilad Ardan from 2015-1013, promoting reforms in the communications market. Berger was fired by Netanyahu in a telephone conversation in mid-2015, close to the appointment of Benjamin Netanyahu as Minister of Communications, and replaced him by state Shlomo Filiber. He will be followed by Dror Shtrum, former antitrust commissioner, Felix Cohen, Eurocom's CFO.

Prosecutor Adv. Yehudit Tirosh asked Berger, "What was your acquaintance with Minister Arden before the appointment?"

Berger: "There was no early acquaintance, the admissions process lasted for several months, I sent a resume for the job and they did not get back to me, and I contacted Eli Kamir, who arranged my meeting with Gilad Ardan. I did not know Kamir before, he met a mutual friend from the army."

Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked Berger if he was a party member, and Berger replied that

not

"I had occasional phone calls and meetings with him, conversations about Da and Ha, nothing significant, how much he and Arden train together. Prior to the departure of Gilad Ardan Eli Kamir contacted me and said he wanted to consult with me, offered him a position to be a consultant at Elowitz Bezeq. "We met in a cafe and I said I would not give you anything, it's your decision. Then I had meetings with him and he tried to ask for all sorts of things."

"What meetings?"

"He asked me to meet with Shaul and Or Elovich."

"Where did you meet?"

"in his office, my office and cafes,"

Tirosh asked Berger to describe the wholesale market reform

"In May 2012 Communications Minister Kahlon same period of the reforms set wholesale market, and the Minister Gilad Erdan began hearings as I entered the position in November"2013.

Former Bezeq CEO Shaul Alovich in court (Photo: Flash 90, Olivia Fitoussi)

Gilad Ardan started hearings when I took office in November 2013. "

" The reform includes a reform of the private communications market. The first tier is the sale of Internet by others, if Bezeq and Hot can sell Internet, which is a two-opal, and they are obligated to sell it to companies like Partner, Cellcom, at a regulated price, in order to create competition. The other layer of the reform was the issue of wholesale telephony, given companies competing by using Bezeq's telephony.

" The next level is the passive infrastructure, the use of Bezeq and Hot fibers, Bezeq's nests - dig in the ground and bury nests, Bezeq as a government company, the goal was to allow all companies in the communications market to cross these nests and reach everywhere with fiber optics and allow competition. "

The implication that someone can buy a large quantity, wholesale at a good price, and sell it at a retail price and earn the

purpose of the reform is twofold, to produce competition in the communications market, the second purpose is to invest in infrastructure. Logic says that there is one company that has a universal layout like Bezeq, another company that has a beautiful layout like Hot, at first the companies will buy it at a wholesale price, and if they want to invest more in moving fiber optics, you can use canes, and today

Why "ride" on Bezeq's infrastructure?

Bezeq claimed that it was its property right, the goal is to look at the market with an overall view and understand where the barriers in the market are. The balance between Bezeq's property right and the public good, and Minister of Communications Gilad Ardan decided that fiber could be transferred in Bezeq's branches.

Berger described the reform process, which when he entered the Ministry of Communications began the hearing phase for the companies involved, to allow them to present their position in relation to the changes that the Ministry of Communications sought to impose on them. According to Berger, "All the hearings were in writing. Some of the hearings were made by Minister Arden.

Who set the schedules?

large by Minister Arden, when we built the work plans accordingly, there was a busy period in the Ministry of Communications.

What were the expected economic consequences of the wholesale market reform on the status of Bezeq

Each hearing had an attached opinion showing that there was an effect of hundreds of millions of shekels, close to a billion shekels on Bezeq's profits, but there was still a profit, the Internet caused some damage, the telephony caused some damage, depending on how much competition there would be.

The goal is to lower barriers and allow competition.

reform is built on Bezeq's infrastructure, how much did it bother you what will happen to Bezeq?

Does the Ministry of Communications also need Bezeq to implement the reform?

Set the schedules for implementing the reform.

Arden (Photo: Reuven Castro)

Berger: The reform depended on Bezeq but also on Behot. It was estimated that Bezeq would be harmed, but Bezeq would continue to earn, but less. We estimated that Bezeq has the ability to develop profits elsewhere. We said that we should lower prices for the citizen, create infrastructure, and the whole economic evidence was that the damage to Bezeq was proportionate.

Minister Arden strongly pressed for the promotion of the wholesale telephony reform in June 2013, the decision was in January 2014, the entire telephony hearing

Tiroche asked Berger whether Bezeq cooperated with the implementation of the reform, and Berger replied that "Bezeq did not cooperate with the implementation of the reform. Court also freedom of information requests, even to the Supreme Court, was a complex process. "

what was the policy of the office for reform by the end of your period?

We continued with the same decisions taken by the Minister Erdan continued on the same line without any changes.

To what extent were Bezeq bothered by the reform?

Mr. Alovitz Doug explain to me how the meeting concerned the reform of telephony, it bothered them

Reform telephony has not been implemented to date

: March 2015 was an election, what you know about the possibility of the firm as CEO Change policy by the new minister during the election period?

In general, in the last months before my dismissal, we acted with caution, the ombudsman issued a document instructing us to continue with previous policies, not to make new decisions. A new issue, we decided in consultation with the Ministry of Justice not to decide on the issue.

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