Netanyahu prosecutor: PM ‘used powers of office to advance his personal desires’

More from prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari’s opening statement against Netanyahu:

Ben-Ari says the prime minister “used the power of his office to advance his personal desires.” She says he abused his power “as a legislator and as a regulator, in order to cause or attempt to cause a media outlet to report in a different manner than it would have otherwise, solely to promote his personal matters.”

She says accusations against the premier “deal with the meeting point, the intersection, between the desire of businessmen to enjoy the prime minister’s immense powers of office and the prime minister’s desire to create an open door for himself to influence Israel’s central media bodies.

“The indictment is based on a broad tapestry of evidence, including direct and circumstantial evidence. The material is also based on a unique type of evidence: recordings of calls as well as real-time text messages. All of these will clearly and fully prove that which is described in the indictment.”