Netanyahu couple prepare to be questioned under caution in Case 4000 Monday; latest grilling will be the first time the two are confronted, separately, with testimony provided by state’s witness Nir Hefetz.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his wife Sara are expected to be investigated simultaneously on Monday, during which they will be presented with details revealed in testimony given by their former media advisor, Nir Hefetz, who recently signed a state’s witness agreement in the Bezeq corruption case.
The couple were supposed to be questioned under caution in the investigation, also known as Case 4000, last week. However, it was postponed until Monday due to the prime minister falling sick.
Mr. and Mrs. Netanyahu will also be questioned on suspicion of obstructing the investigation, based on Hefetz’s testimony.
Over the last two weeks, Hefetz has sat with investigators who have compiled masses of testimony relating to the case, which erupted in February when the Israel Securities Authority completed its inquiry into Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch’s ties with Netanyahu and the suspicion he enjoyed benefits for Bezeq in return for favorable coverage of Netanyahu on the Walla! News website, which is fully owned by Bezeq.
The prime minister will be questioned in his official Jerusalem residence in Balfour Street, while Sara Netanyahu will be grilled at the Lahav 433 offices in Lod.
It will be the first time that the Israeli premier and his wife are forced to confront the evidence provided by his former advisor.
Hefetz allegedly presented evidence to the interrogators, some of which are backed up by documents and recordings about the behind-the-scenes moves.
He identified himself as the individual who acted as the liaison between the Netanyahu family and Walla! News CEO Ilan Yeshua.
The state’s witness also provided his investigators with his cellphone which contained messages from Sara Netanyahu and recordings of other relevant officials. The recordings and messages are believed to buttress suspicions that Elovitch and Netanyahu were engaged in a quid pro quo arrangement.
At the beginning of March, Police investigators questioned Netanyahu under caution for five hours on in the Bezeq affair. Investigators chose not to question the premier on the submarine, probe, however.
While the prime minister was questioned at the official residence in Jerusalem, his wife Sara Netanyahu gave testimony at the offices of the police’s Lahav 433 anti-corruption unit in Lod. Her testimony—which was also collected over the course of five hours—then became a questioning under caution.
After his five-hour investigation concluded, the prime minister published a post on his Facebook page in which he said, “A moment before Shabbat begins, I’d like to tell you that I feel confident that there won’t be anything.
“I’d like to tell you—the millions of Israel who have voiced such strong support of me, my wife and my family—something else: you warm our hearts.”
Last Thursday, Netanyahu accused his detractors of exerting “constant bullying pressure” on law-enforcement bodies to bring him and his support base down.
Speaking at a Likud rally in celebration of the upcoming Passover festival, he told thousands of party members, supporters and MKs that his opponents had failed to depose him democratically, and were therefore employing other tactics.
As reported by Ynetnews