Israel: Former aide testifies in Netanyahu corruption trial

A key prosecution witness began testifying against former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday in his corruption trial in Jerusalem.

Nir Hefetz, a former spokesman for Netanyahu, was expected to give a critical testimony in the trial that has been a polarizing issue for many Israelis.

Netanyahu, now the opposition leader, has been charged with fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate indictments that collectively accuse him of accepting improper gifts and illegally trading regulatory favor with media tycoons in exchange for positive coverage. He denies any wrongdoing and has called the trial a politicized witch hunt.

In his opening testimony, Hefetz said Netanyahu was a "control freak" when it comes to his public image, and that "his control over everything relating to media matters and in his social media channels could not be higher... He demands to know everything, down to the smallest detail."

"Netanyahu spends at least as much as his time on media as he spends on security matters, including on matters an outsider would consider nonsense," Hefetz, also a former journalist, told the courtroom.

'Case 4000'

The session focused on a case nicknamed Case 4000, which looks at how Netanyahu allegedly granted favours to Shaul Elovitch, then-head of Israel's largest telecommunications company, Bezeq, in exchange for favourable coverage by its Walla news website.

Netanyahu is accused of offering regulatory benefits that could have been worth millions to Bezeq in return for the politically advantageous press coverage.

Hefetz said that in 2015, shortly before elections, Elovitch contacted him regularly to lobby for governmental approval of his group's merger with cable TV operator Yes, and to see who would be the next communications minister.

"I think he (Elovitch) was thinking at the time: who knows who will win; so the Yes deal had to be signed first," Hefetz said.

Netanyahu, who appeared in the Jerusalem District Court flanked by fellow Likud party politicians, is not required to attend the trial hearings. He has typically made few court appearances. He left after the first few hours of testimony on Monday after receiving permission from the court.

What are the allegations?

The first case alleges that Netanyahu, whose second stint as prime minister lasted 12 years and ended this June, received gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from billionaire friends, including Hollywood producer and Israeli businessman Arnon Milchan and Australian businessman James Packer.

Hefetz' testimony was delayed by a week after Netanyahu's defense attorneys requested time to review new evidence that was presented last week. Netanyahu's wife, Sara, had allegedly accepted an expensive bracelet as a gift from Milchan and Packer.

In the second case, the former prime minister is accused of arranging positive press coverage in a major Israeli paper in exchange for promoting legislation that would have damaged the paper's rival.

The third "Case 4000" focuses on Bezeq.

All three cases have been rolled into one larger trial.

Netanyahu became Israel's first premier to be criminally charged while still in office.

The 72-year-old and his supporters have slammed the allegations as a left-wing "witch-hunt" against him.

In June, lawmakers passed a vote of confidence for a wide-ranging new coalition government, ending his 12-year hold on power. 

mvb/msh  (Reuters, AP, AFP)