3 senior Netanyahu aides indicted for witness intimidation in PM’s corruption cases
Prosecutors allege the three men sent a car with a loudspeaker to the home of a state witness to play messages critical of his testimony
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Three senior aides to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu were indicted on charges of witness intimidation on Tuesday, for having sent a car with a megaphone to the home of a key witness in Netanyahu’s criminal trial in 2019 in order to harass him.
The three aides indicted were Ofer Golan, who served as a spokesman for the Netanyahu family and the director of the Likud election campaign in 2019; Jonatan Urich, who served at the time as a strategic adviser and a senior official in Likud’s election campaign staff; and Yisrael Einhorn, who served as a Likud spokesman.
Golan and Urich still work in similar positions.
The State Attorney’s Office said State Attorney Amit Aisman had decided to file the indictment, which carries a potential three-year prison sentence, following several hearings held with the suspects in recent months.
Golan and Urich denounced Aisman for having taken nearly six years to file the charges and noted that the prosecutor in the State Attorney’s office who initially dealt with the case had recommended it be closed. Their attorney, Amit Hadad, said the prosecutor had said the three men would be acquitted if the case went to trial.
According to the State Attorney’s Office, the prosecutor had recommended closing the case due to questions surrounding the admissibility of evidence relating to how it was gathered by the police, but said prosecutors believe there is still enough for a conviction.
In 2019, Netanyahu was under investigation for wrongdoing during the three years he served as communications minister, in addition to serving as prime minister, between 2014 and 2017. Netanyahu appointed Shlomo (Momo) Filber to serve as the director general of the ministry, who went on to turn state witness against him.
Netanyahu was ultimately indicted for what became known as Case 4000, one of three cases in which the premier is currently on trial.
According to the indictment filed Tuesday, Golan, Urich, and Einhorn jointly came up with a plan to harass Filber while the investigation against Netanyahu was underway.
The prosecutors alleged that the three men arranged for two people to drive a vehicle with a loudspeaker to Filber’s home in Petah Tikva and play recorded messages criticizing him for his testimony against Netanyahu.
The two individuals allegedly parked next to his house and began playing the message “Momo, be a man, go and tell the truth, Momo Filber, [about] what they did to you for you to lie against the prime minister, what they promised you.”
Another message played over the loudspeaker was: “The left is using you to topple Likud, Momo. Hear what you yourself said before the police pressured you.”
Also played was an interview Filber had given in which he was heard saying that decisions Netanyahu made while serving as communications minister, with Filber serving as the ministry’s director-general, were “professional,” contradicting his testimony that Netanyahu had acted unlawfully.
During his testimony in court in 2022, Filber incriminated Netanyahu by confirming the prosecution’s charges that the prime minister had asked him to accede to the wishes of Bezeq telecom giant majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch.
But under cross-examination Filber backtracked on his testimony, telling the court Netanyahu’s instructions were ambiguous and could have been interpreted in different ways.
As a result, the State Attorney’s Office has warned that it is likely to annul Filber’s state witness agreement and indict him for his part in the alleged misconduct in the Communications Ministry.
Filber also complained during his testimony of police abuse while he was under investigation, and this month said he was filing a lawsuit against the police, Israel Prison Service, attorney general, and state attorney for sexual assault he says he was subjected to by prison officers while in detention in connection with the investigation against Netanyahu.
Golan and Urich said in response to the indictment, “After years of drawn out-legal proceedings… Amit Aisman has the audacity to file a tattered indictment of two paragraphs.
“If they want a war, they’ll get a war. We’ll meet in court.”
