Netanyahu: Investigation of Tzachi Braverman is ‘one gigantic fake’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu decries suspicions of illegal activity surrounding his chief of staff, Tzachi Braverman, as entirely unfounded.

“This is one gigantic fake,” the premier says in answer to a question about the investigation of an alleged meeting where, according to Netanyahu’s former aide Eli Feldstein, Braverman said he could “turn off” a military probe into Feldstein’s leaking of classified material to the German tabloid Bild.

“Forget it — it’s fake,” he continues, saying the investigation is part of a broader trend, where “time after time after time they did this to senior figures in the state. And in the end it came out completely baseless,” apparently referring to the judicial system.

“There is simply a terrible witch-hunt here. I think it is harmful not only to human beings and to the families of those under investigation; it is also harmful to democracy. If you want to bring down the prime minister – go to the ballot box. That is where you bring him down, not through covert methods, through terrible means – criminal ones – being used all the time, methods that are exposed in court,” he says, without specifying what crimes have been exposed.

He says if his own court trial hearings were broadcast live, “then people would see what they do to witnesses, what they do to people,” again without elaborating or providing details. His corruption court trial is not broadcast live, but it is open to journalists who report on the proceedings.