Tiberias man convicted of harassing key witness in Netanyahu’s graft trial

The Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court convicts Tiberias resident Menachem Raviv of witness intimidation for “defamatory and offensive tweets” he posted on social media against Hadas Klein over her testimony in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s criminal trial.

“Damn the Bolshevik, Mapainik Hadas Klein, her and every member of her family who made false accusations against Mr. Benjamin Netanyahu,” wrote Raviv several weeks after Klein ended her testimony.

“From one testimony to the next, it turns out that the evil and sickness of Hadas Klein and every member of her family is growing at an ever-increasing pace and we must stop her, otherwise she, God forbid, could spread just like the exponential spread of the deadly coronavirus,” he further tweeted.

The court rejected Raviv’s argument that his comments were protected free speech, stating the witness is entitled to peace of mind and not to be harassed which outweigh freedom of expression, and that “it is not permissible to harass a witness with comments like these defamatory and offensive tweets, including the call to stop Klein which the defendant published.”

Raviv is given a two month suspended prison sentence and a NIS 500 ($150) fine.

He is the third person to be convicted of witness harassment in connection to Netanyahu’s trial.

The State Attorney’s Office has filed another five indictments to the courts against defendants for allegedly harassing Klein, a key witness in the trial.

In addition, the State Attorney’s Office filed indictments in February against three senior aides to Netanyahu, — Ofer Golan, Jonatan Urich, and Yisrael Einhorn — on charges of witness harassment against Shlomo Filber, another key witness in Netanyahu’s trial.

Urich and Einhorn are both also suspects in the leaked documents and Qatargate investigations.