The Netanyahu trial

Following the State Attorney's Office's request to amend the indictment: Pilber's investigation into the Netanyahu trial continues

The former director general of the Ministry of Communications will return to the witness stand in the Jerusalem District Court, as part of his cross-examination in the 4000 case.

Yael Friedson

16/05/2022

Monday, 16 May 2022, 08:45 Updated: 09:22

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In the video: In Netanyahu's eyes, Pilber's cross-examination is underway (Walla system!)

The Jerusalem District Court will continue today (Monday) the cross-examination of State Witness Shlomo Pilber, former director general of the Ministry of Communications, in the 4000 case. At the beginning of the hearing,

Judge

Rebecca Friedman-Feldman asked the defense teams if they wanted to address the request to amend the indictment at the beginning of the hearing: "The request to amend the indictment was submitted yesterday, are you prepared to address it?", She asked. This is a request that needs to be discussed. "Adv. Boaz Ben-Zur, representing opposition leader Benjamin Netanyahu, replied that" we are not prepared at the moment, we are giving a written response. "

Friedman-Feldman asked again, "The request is a little more urgent than a regular request, so the thought was that it might be worthwhile to have another oral hearing this week. It's a bit of a matter for you because it's a cross - examination."

Ben-Zur replied, "Adv. Chen has completed his interrogation, the witness in a cross-examination. We want several days to prepare an orderly written response."

More on Walla!

For a long time he did not stand on the witness stand until such an unreliable state: on the phenomenon of Solomon Pilber

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The facilitation meeting was not held after his appointment.

Pilber (Photo: Flash 90, Jonathan Zindel)

In a request submitted to the Jerusalem District Court, the prosecution requested a change in the description of the date of the directive meeting, in which, according to the indictment, Netanyahu spoke with Pilber about the issues he wanted to promote in the Ministry of Communications, and instructed him to do better with Bezeq.

The indictment states that "at an unknown date, very shortly after the approval of Pilber's appointment, as part of the 'give and take' relationship that took place between the defendants Netanyahu and the Elowitz couple, defendant Netanyahu summoned Pilber to a meeting in his office. "Elovich complained to him about the manner in which the Ministry of Communications handled his business, and instructed Pilber to act in the context of his position as the director general of the ministry in a manner that would benefit defendant Elowitz."

In a cross-examination conducted last week, Netanyahu's defense attorney, Adv. Boaz Ben-Zur, showed that according to the locations conducted by the police, Pilber was not in the week after his appointment as director general of the Ministry of Communications in the Prime Minister's Office.

Ben-Zur also showed that there is no record of a meeting between Netanyahu and Pilber in the diaries of the two, but only on June 15, so it is not possible that the meeting was held that week, as Pilber claims.

The prosecution now seeks to amend the beginning of the section so that it states that "at an unknown date, after defendant Netanyahu decided on Pilber's appointment."

This is the third time that the prosecution has amended the indictment against Netanyahu.

For the first time, the judges accepted the defense's position and ordered the prosecution to delete the expression Netanyahu and his family from the indictment, and to detail the events of the bribery.

The second time, following the testimony of Hadas Klein, Arnon Milchen's personal assistant, regarding the purchase of jewelry for Sarah Netanyahu, the prosecution sought to add prosecution witnesses.

What is Netanyahu accused of?

In the 1000 case

(the gifts affair), Netanyahu is accused of receiving benefits from businessmen Arnon Milchen and James Packer worth about NIS 700,000, while he served as prime minister.

The main gifts were cigars, champagne packages and jewelry.

In addition, it was alleged that Netanyahu acted in Milchen's favor in three matters, in which the businessman sought his intervention: he approached US Secretary of State John Kerry to extend the businessman's visa, he approached Finance Minister Yair Lapid to extend the exemption. A tax for returning residents, and he worked to promote a merger of "Keshet" and "Reshet" - ostensibly at Milchen's request.

According to the lawsuit, these acts damaged the image of the public service and the public's trust in it.

The Netanyahu-Mozes affair deals with talks between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Noni Mozes. The deal is Moses, so he is accused of offering bribes. On the other hand, the ombudsman was also convinced that Netanyahu did not intend to complete the bribe deal, but continued the talks with Moses to improve his coverage in the Yedioth group, and there are even certain actions to do so.

(Bezeq-Walla affair!) The most serious case for the prime minister deals with regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels, which Netanyahu allegedly granted to Elowitz.

In return, according to the indictment, Elovich acted to skew the coverage on the Walla! Website, which was under his control.

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