State witness in Netanyahu case threatens to sue justice minister

Nir Hefetz, a former aide to Netanyahu who is a state witness in the cases against him, sends notice to Justice Minister Amir Ohana, warning him of his intent to take him to court for breaking a gag order and thus violating his privacy while describing alleged misdeeds by police.

Hefetz is a key witness in Case 4000, which involves suspicions the premier pushed regulations benefiting Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch in exchange for positive coverage from Bezeq’s Walla news site.

It is considered the most serious of the three graft cases facing Netanyahu.

At the Knesset last week, Ohana railed against what he said was police misconduct in leaning on Hefetz to testify against Netanyahu, revealing details of alleged illegitimate pressure tactics used by investigators that had been sealed by the court, supposedly to protect Hefetz’s privacy.

Ohana, who has parliamentary immunity, described how investigators called in a woman who was not directly connected to Case 4000 for questioning, asked her “invasive and intrusive” questions about her relationship with Hefetz, then engineered an “accidental” meeting between the woman and Hefetz in the hallway.

On Sunday, Hefetz angrily stormed out of a court hearing on whether to remove a gag order on details of the police investigation in his case.

“You’re spilling my blood. Just lead me to the gallows,” Hefetz shouted at the Tel Aviv District Court judge for permitting an open hearing.

“It’s a scandal,” he said. “You’re going to get me killed.”