Bezeq owner denies wrongdoing in latest Netanyahu graft scandal

A top businessman named as a suspect in a corruption probe involving Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has “categorically” denied allegations leveled against him, saying that “no offense has been committed.”

Shaul Elovitch, the owner of the Walla news website and the controlling shareholder of Israel’s largest telecom company Bezeq, on Monday denied the existence of a quid pro quo deal with Netanyahu that would have seen the prime minister granted positive media coverage in exchange for financial benefits for Bezeq.

“Shaul Elovitch categorically denies the suspicions against him,” a statement said. “We urge patience and not to rush to conclusions.”

“We are confident that when things become clear, it will be possible to see that no offense has been committed,” it said.

According to law enforcement sources, in the case dubbed Case 4000, Elovitch swayed Walla’s coverage of Netanyahu and his family in exchange for the Communications Ministry enacting policies potentially worth hundreds of millions of shekels for Elovitch.

Netanyahu, who has also been said by Israeli media to be a suspect in the case, is suspected of furthering that deal. Netanyahu also denies any wrongdoing.

Netanyahu was acting communications minister at the time of several alleged illicit deals made with Elovitch, one of which included helping Bezeq buy the satellite cable provider Yes, overriding any antitrust issues raised by ministry officials.

On Sunday, after the case was transferred from the Israel Securities Authority to the Israel Police, two “very close” associates of Netanyahu were arrested, along with three senior officials in the Bezeq phone company, and two relatives of one of the officials. The names of those arrested are subject to a gag order, but according to reports, the Netanyahu associates arrested are a media consultant and the director general of an unnamed ministry.

Investigators uncovered strong evidence that Elovitch directed Walla to drastically change its coverage of both Netanyahu and his wife Sara, and believe that it is “only a matter of time” before one of the current suspects agrees to testify that Netanyahu was behind the decision, Hadashot news reported on Sunday.

Channel 10 news aired recordings of Nir Hefetz, a longtime confidant of the prime minister and his former family spokesperson, saying, “I can ask anything of Elovitch: Pelephone, Yes, Bezeq, Bezeq Benleumi.”

In another section of the tape, which the report said police believe provides a direct link between Netanyahu and the positive coverage he received from Walla, Hefetz can be heard saying that he had met with “senior global media figures” who had given him a “green light” to go ahead with Bezeq’s purchase of Yes.