Report: After leaving Communications Ministry, PM still intervened in its work

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu continued intervening in the Communications Ministry’s work even after he was forced to give up the portfolio and appoint Druze MK Ayoub Kara as communications minister in 2017, Channel 13 reports.

After he left the post of communications minister, Netanyahu reportedly tried to benefit right-wing television network Channel 20 by purportedly pressuring Kara to close the Cable and Satellite Broadcasting Council, a TV regulator, for trying to prevent the network from launching news broadcasts.

The premier was forced to give up his position as communications minister when it was revealed police were investigating suspicions of corruption surrounding a business merger between telecom giant Bezeq and satellite firm Yes, in what later ballooned into the Case 4000 graft investigation. Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit last week announced his intention to indict Netanyahu for bribery in the case, pending a hearing.

The Likud party says Tuesday the report is “nonsense” and “another attempt to create a false headline about nothing.”

Kara’s office and the Communications Ministry deny the claims in the Channel 13 report, saying the bill to close the TV regulator was pushed by the Finance Ministry and had no connection to them.