At PM’s trial, ex-editor testifies to regular interference over coverage of Netanyahu

Journalist Yinon Magal arrives for a court hearing in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Jerusalem District Court on July 18, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)
Journalist Yinon Magal arrives for a court hearing in the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, at the Jerusalem District Court on July 18, 2023. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash90)

Former MK and right-wing radio host Yinon Magal testifies at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, saying there was regular interference regarding coverage of the Netanyahus during his time as editor-in-chief of the Walla news site.

Also known as the Bezeq-Walla affair, Case 4000 focuses on allegations that Netanyahu, during his previous tenure as prime minister, authorized regulatory decisions that financially benefited Bezeq telecommunications giant shareholder Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received editorial influence over the Walla news site, also owned by Elovitch.

“The interventions with regards to Netanyahu were part of a culture of political and economic interventions,” Magal tells the court.

“As editor-in-chief, I opposed these interventions and I made efforts to influence the system in a way that I believed in,” he says.

“In retrospect, did I succeed? I think the answer is no,” he says.

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