Shlomo Filber reportedly summoned for hearing for alleged violation of state witness deal

Prosecutors summon Shlomo Filber, the former Communications Ministry director general, to a hearing for violating his deal to be a state witness in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, Hebrew media outlets report.

According to Channel 12 news, Filber is being summoned over an alleged conflict of interest due to the fact that Netanyahu’s law firm also represents the state witness.

After his arrest, Filber agreed to become a state witness and testified that the prime minister had instructed him to make decisions that financially benefited the Bezeq telecom giant, incriminating himself in the process of his testimony.

The prosecution alleges Netanyahu ordered Filber to make those decisions as part of an illicit quid pro quo agreement between the prime minister and Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch.

Under cross-examination in court, however, Filber contradicted his original testimony, saying Netanyahu had not given him any instructions to benefit Bezeq, before reversing himself again and telling the court that his original testimony was accurate.

The State Attorney’s Office has sought to revoke the state witness agreement made with Filber, potentially exposing him to prosecution.

Filber has previously accused police interrogators of trying to manipulate him during their investigation.

The prosecution alleges that Netanyahu had an illegal agreement with Elovitch in which the Elovitch-owned Walla news website would provide favorable media coverage to the prime minister, who, in return, ensured the passage of regulatory decisions that would benefit Elovitch’s business interests.

During testimony in court, Netanyahu has strongly denied the existence of any such agreement between himself and Elovitch, and argued vehemently that Walla did not give him positive media coverage.