In opening address, PM’s attorney says case against premier has ‘numerous holes’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s primary defense attorney, Amit Hadad, gives an opening address to the Jerusalem District Court judges ahead of the prime minister’s testimony, saying that they and the premier are glad to have the opportunity to present Netanyahu’s side of the events, “as they happened in real time, and without filters.”

Hadad asserts that there are “numerous holes and unusual aspects” of the indictment in all three cases against the prime minister.

Hadad focuses on the allegations in Case 4000, in which Netanyahu allegedly provided then-Bezeq majority shareholder Shaul Elovitch with regulatory benefits in return for positive media coverage on the Walla news website, which Elovitch also owned.

Netanyahu is accused of both bribery and fraud, as well as breach of trust in this case.

Hadad insists that there was never any formal agreement or dialogue between Netanyahu and Elovitch in which they came to such an agreement, and says that the indictment does not even allege that such an agreement was agreed upon, but that it was an informal understanding.

“We don’t understand how Netanyahu could get this special treatment [from Walla] without an agreement,” says Hadad.

He argues that other politicians who received positive coverage in other newspapers after contacting the outlets editorial staff have not been subject to similar criminal charges.

Hadad also insists that the allegations of bribery and fraud and breach of trust through positive media coverage is “a new construction” and asserts that “there is no such thing as bribery through media coverage.”