Netanyahu’s former confidant agrees to turn state’s witness in corruption investigation
A CONFIDANT of Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli prime minister, has agreed to turn state’s witness in one of several corruption investigations posing a threat to the conservative leader’s political survival, media reports claim.
Shlomo Filber’s decision to testify for the state against his former boss is a dramatic turn for Mr Netanyahu, whose inner circle had seemed watertight. Mr Filber’s change of heart could leave the tough-talking politician at his most vulnerable yet, with one critic writing him off as a “political corpse”.
The development also fuelled speculation that Mr Netanyahu, 68, will call a snap election to try to stall legal proceedings during the campaign and rally his Right-wing power base behind him. Israel’s dominant political figure for a generation, Mr Netanyahu calls the allegations against him a “witch hunt” and has said he will seek a fifth term in a ballot due in 2019.
Mr Filber, appointed by Mr Netanyahu to head the communications ministry, was arrested this week along with executives at Bezeq Telecom, Israel’s largest telecommunications company.
In unsourced reports, Israeli media said Mr Filber had agreed to testify for the state in the case, in which police allege that Bezeq’s owners offered favourable coverage in return for favours from regulators. Bezeq, its owners and executives deny wrongdoing. A police fraud squad spokesman declined to comment while Mr Filber’s lawyer was not available to comment.
Police recommended last week that Mr Netanyahu be indicted in two unrelated corruption investigations. In one he is suspected of bribery over gifts, allegedly worth nearly $300,000 (£215,000), that he received from a businessman. The other involves an alleged plot to win positive coverage in Israel’s biggest newspaper by offering to curtail the circulation of a rival daily.
In another case, one of the prime minister’s former spokesmen is alleged to have tried to bribe a judge to block a case against Mr Netanyahu’s wife for spending state money on personal catering.