Netanyahu, Visiting U.S., Is Stalked by Legal Troubles at Home
Netanyahu, Visiting U.S., Is Stalked by Legal Troubles at Home
The police were reported to have surprised Mrs. Netanyahu by questioning her as a suspect, rather than just taking her testimony as a witness,
and to have set up an elaborate six-way interrogation, questioning other main suspects, including Mr. Hefetz; Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Bezeq and a friend of Mr. Netanyahu’s; and his wife Iris, a friend of Mrs. Netanyahu’s, in separate rooms and feeding information to investigators.
The latest government witness is Nir Hefetz, a former journalist who served as chief spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu from 2009 to 2011,
and later returned to work as the Netanyahu family’s media adviser, a post he held until October 2017.
Mr. Hefetz also has been implicated in another case, involving allegations
that he sought, through an intermediary, to bribe a judge into dropping a separate criminal investigation involving the misuse of public funds by Mrs. Netanyahu.
The deal came after days of feverish speculation in Israel
that Mr. Netanyahu, beleaguered by police investigations and facing possible bribery charges, might call a snap election in hopes of a quick validation of public support.
He signed a deal with the authorities, the police said Monday,
that is likely to yield damning evidence in at least one bribery case in which Mr. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are suspects, and possibly others.
The third state witness, Ari Harow, Mr. Netanyahu’s former chief of staff
and once one of his closest confidants, signed a deal with the police seven months ago and was expected to provide incriminating evidence in two other graft cases involving illicit gifts for favors and back-room dealings with a local newspaper magnate in another bid for favorable press coverage.
On Friday, Mr. and Mrs. Netanyahu were questioned for hours about the case in separate locations — he in the official
prime minister’s residence, she at the headquarters of the fraud investigations unit in central Israel.
The police were reported to have surprised Mrs. Netanyahu by questioning her as a suspect, rather than just taking her testimony as a witness,
and to have set up an elaborate six-way interrogation, questioning other main suspects, including Mr. Hefetz; Shaul Elovitch, the owner of Bezeq and a friend of Mr. Netanyahu’s; and his wife Iris, a friend of Mrs. Netanyahu’s, in separate rooms and feeding information to investigators.
The latest government witness is Nir Hefetz, a former journalist who served as chief spokesman for Mr. Netanyahu from 2009 to 2011,
and later returned to work as the Netanyahu family’s media adviser, a post he held until October 2017.
Mr. Hefetz also has been implicated in another case, involving allegations
that he sought, through an intermediary, to bribe a judge into dropping a separate criminal investigation involving the misuse of public funds by Mrs. Netanyahu.
The deal came after days of feverish speculation in Israel
that Mr. Netanyahu, beleaguered by police investigations and facing possible bribery charges, might call a snap election in hopes of a quick validation of public support.
He signed a deal with the authorities, the police said Monday,
that is likely to yield damning evidence in at least one bribery case in which Mr. Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are suspects, and possibly others.
The third state witness, Ari Harow, Mr. Netanyahu’s former chief of staff
and once one of his closest confidants, signed a deal with the police seven months ago and was expected to provide incriminating evidence in two other graft cases involving illicit gifts for favors and back-room dealings with a local newspaper magnate in another bid for favorable press coverage.
On Friday, Mr. and Mrs. Netanyahu were questioned for hours about the case in separate locations — he in the official
prime minister’s residence, she at the headquarters of the fraud investigations unit in central Israel.
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