BICOM

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be interviewed at his residence this morning in relation to allegations connected to Case 4000. His wife Sara will also give a statement to investigators at the same time.

Case 4000 deals with Prime Minister Netanyahu’s connection to Bezeq’s controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch. The case involves allegations that Bezeq received benefits from the Government in return for favourable news coverage of Netanyahu on the Walla news website, which is owned by Elovitch. Shlomo Filber, an advisor to Netanyahu, served as Director-General of the Communications Ministry and is alleged to have made policy decisions to benefit Bezeq in return for the favourable media coverage. Filber has since signed a plea agreement to act as a state witness in the case.

Israeli media have reported that Netanyahu will be asked why he continued to manage issues related to Bezeq, even after he had promised the Attorney General that he would not do so. Sara Netanyahu will give a statement about her ties to Elovitch’s wife Iris and the messages that she is suspected of having relayed to her about Bezeq and coverage of the Netanyahus on the Walla news website.

Investigators will need to decide whether there is enough evidence to support charges of fraud and bribery. It is expected that the police will inform Netanyahu that he is being questioned under caution, meaning that he is being treated as a suspect. Elovitch and Hefetz will be held in police custody until Sunday to allow the police to ask all the suspects questions in parallel before they are able to confer.

The Netanyahu family said the allegations against them are “fake news”. A statement issued earlier this week said: “this never happened. The continuation of the false and tendentious leaks against Netanyahu is aimed at undermining the Government and the Likud’s rule.”

Prime Minister Netanyahu may be asked to give a statement in connection to Case 3000, which concerns the purchase of submarines and naval vessels from Germany. Several of Netanyahu’s closest advisers have already been arrested or questioned in connection with the case.