The Netanyahu trial

Pilber in his testimony in the 4000 case: "I deleted messages, I had a liver on the phone"

The 6th hearing in the testimony of the former director general of the Ministry of Communications and the State Committee at the trial, Shlomo Pilber, last described a call from Netanyahu in early 2016, about six months after the call in which he instructed him to deal with Bezeq matters. "It was an unusual call."

Meirav Cohen

05/04/2022

Tuesday, 05 April 2022, 13:31 Updated: 14:39

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In the video: The fifth day of Shlomo Pilber's testimony in Netanyahu's files (Photo: Roni Kanfo)

Shlomo Pilber, former director general of the Ministry of Communications and the State Committee for Alpine Law, continued to testify in the Jerusalem District Court today (Tuesday

. On the way to a meeting at the Ministry of Finance, he asked me how all the issues with Bezeq were progressing.

I reviewed in his face all the issues there are including telephony.

I told him, 'I'm progressing according to the outline as a window.' "

What did you

understand the conversation, what is the purpose of the conversation? "

The context was where we stand and what we do. "

" In your interrogation you said you talked about structural separation. "

" We may have talked about it.

These are issues that have come up in front of the Treasury and Haran.

The question was what was happening and what was the situation. "

"Was this an unusual or routine conversation?"

"In relation to the communication between us it was routine, in relation to the market it was exceptional."

"You said several times in your interrogation that an object came from the Netanyahu couple in Jerusalem, sometimes hysterically. You said he was a disciplined soldier and they asked you if he would just come and say 'of course not'. Why did you think he was sending Nir and not talking to you himself?"

"I assumed he was sent on their behalf. Can't explain why."

"You ruled out the possibility that he would come to you without going through the prime minister. Why?"

"Because he would not have used his name in vain."

Tirosh: "You said you did not appreciate him, why did you meet him?"

"Because he is close to Sarah and Netanyahu's house. If I had not met with him, he would have threatened me to talk to her. I did not want problems, so I talked to him, I listened and that's it."

"You said he could have an impact on the prime minister and you see him as his long arm."

"The prime minister listened to him."

"Did you see in these conversations a natural continuation of the armchair conversation with Netanyahu?"

"Yeah, associatively it connects."

More on Walla!

Pilber on the benefits to Bezeq: I had room for discretion, but not the option not to do

To the full article

More on Walla!

• Pilber: The meeting with Elovich was emotional, he was on the verge of tears

• Court: Pilber was not declared hostile, the prosecution will be able to cross-examine him

• The Silent Killer: Everything you need to know about high blood pressure and how to deal with it

Pilber, yesterday (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)

Pilber:

"At the end of 2016, I realized that there was an axis between Walla (Elovich) and Nir Hefetz-Netanyahu. At one of the meetings, Hefetz asked me to stop the structural separation."

"In one of your interrogations you said that there was one meeting where he told you that he came from a meeting between Yair and Sarah Netanyahu and they told him that he was knocking them out and that she would stop doing things for Elowitz. Was it after or before the letter of intent?"

"After."

Tirosh: "There was a case in which someone from the Netanyahu family interfered somewhat with the regulatory issue."

"There was a time when Yair Netanyahu turned to Netanyahu and asked him why Al Jazeera had some of the broadcasts. I told him it was part of freedom of expression. That's more. "

"You had another meeting with Mr. Hefetz right?"

"There was a fourth meeting near my house that he asked to come to, in the afternoon I think. We sat there and it was more or less towards the end of 16 and at the end he told me something in style, I hope you delete. That was when first news came out about investigations into the 2000 case "Fear that he might be talking about Elovich. There were reports of a businessman and Netanyahu and he talked to me and what did he tell you?"

"He asked me if it seemed to me that this was Elovich's story, I said I did not like it, that the only thing involved was the merger and that it was also done with the attorney general's approval. I was calm. At the end of the call he told me you delete the message, I said no. And he said no. You will delete me. "

"Did you delete the messages?"

"What he asked for I deleted but usually I do not delete."

"Did anyone know about your encounters with an object?"

"No."

Elovich at an evidentiary hearing last month (Photo: Flash 90, Yonatan Zindel)

Tirosh:

"You were summoned for questioning only three weeks after Bezeq's investigation began. What do you remember about the conversation with Mr. Netanyahu during this period?"

"

I was in the bureau and went into a small meeting. He asked me if this issue was related to us, I told him there was no connection. I asked the deputy ombudsman to check that we could continue with Bezeq."

"Confirm to me that you deleted messages during this period.

" I deleted all the heavy messages, I also deleted some groups including in the family because I had a heavy cell phone.

I did not delete any emails.

I come to the initial interrogation and they ask me if I want a lawyer, I told them no. Only after three hours did my wife send our lawyer after messages came out of what was going on.

Until then, I was still innocent. "

Regarding Pegasus,

"You knew all along that everything was exposed and known. You confirmed and agreed to it. You knew it would also be retroactive, right?"

"True, but I want to qualify and consult an attorney because I do not know the consequences of this"

Case 4000 (Bezeq-Walla case) is the most serious case for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and it deals with regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels, Netanyahu allegedly gave the former Bezeq controlling shareholder, Shaul Elowitz, in return, according to the indictment, Elowitz acted to skew the coverage on the Walla! Website, which he controlled, in which Netanyahu is accused of bribery.

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