Associates of state witness say PM lied when claiming investigators 'blackmailed' him

Associates of Shlomo Filber, the former Communications Ministry director general and one of the key state witnesses against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, reportedly issued a strongly worded statement accusing the premier of witness harassment.

Then-Communications Ministry director general Shlomo Filber at a Knesset committee meeting on July 24, 2016. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

In his speech tonight denouncing the charges against him, Netanyahu alleged that investigators had made use of an illicit tactic against Filber to blackmail him into becoming a state witness in Case 4000.

“Netanyahu is lying,” Filber’s associates say, according to Channel 12. “Filber wasn’t blackmailed during his interrogation and no illicit tactic was employed — that is a purposeful blood libel.

“There is no personal or secret basis behind his testimony. This is an attempt to harass a witness and sully his name.”