Police think Bezeq suspect facilitated deal on behalf of PM’s aide – report

Police investigators reportedly suspect that media adviser Eli Kamir facilitated illicit dealings between a senior aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and a top Bezeq official, in a quickly ballooning corruption case involving Israel’s largest telecom company.

Case 4000 involves suspicions that Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Bezeq, ordered the Walla news site, which he owns, to grant positive coverage to Netanyahu and his family, in exchange for the prime minister advancing regulations benefiting Elovitch.

Shlomo Filber, the suspended director-general of the Communications Ministry and a longtime Netanyahu confidant, is also a suspect in the latest corruption-related investigation to plague those close to the prime minister and his family.

According to a Sunday report in Hadashot TV news, investigators suspect that Kamir facilitated a quid-pro-quo deal between Filber and Elovitch.

Kamir was arrested early Sunday morning, and at a remand hearing later in the day was ordered to remain in custody for another five days on suspicion of bribery, fraud, and money laundering.

Also Sunday, Channel 10 published leaked text messages that appeared to show the judge in the Bezeq probe deciding, together with an attorney, which suspects to remand, even before their respective hearings.

In the exchange, a lawyer from the Israel Securities Authority tells Judge Ronit Poznansky-Katz that the ISA will request she hold some of the suspects for several more days, while another can “be released tomorrow.”

“Try and act surprised,” attorney Eran Shacham-Shavit, the deputy counsel of the ISA’s investigations department, wrote in one of the messages.

“I’m practicing my surprised face,” Poznansky-Katz responded.

Shacham-Shavit went on to tell the judge that the ISA intends to request the court extend the remand of Bezeq CEO Stella Handler and Elovitch’s wife, Iris.

“You continue to reveal everything to me, and I will have to act really, really surprised,” the judge responded.

The Case 4000 investigation has gathered steam in the past week, following the arrest of a number of high-profile aides to Netanyahu and executives at Bezeq.

Last Tuesday, Filber turned state’s witness and agreed to testify in what could possibly incriminate the prime minister in the affair. On Wednesday, Filber’s remand was extended by 15 days, and he was ordered to stay at an undisclosed location while police continue to question him.

Netanyahu was acting communications minister at the time when several allegedly illicit deals were made with Elovitch, one of which included helping Bezeq buy the satellite cable provider Yes, overriding antitrust issues raised by ministry officials. The prime minister, who is reportedly suspected of furthering that deal, denies any wrongdoing, as does Elovitch.

Elovich and his wife and son, who were all members of the board, notified Bezeq on Sunday that they intend to resign. Bezeq shares have dropped some 30 percent in the past year amid the investigation, and activist investor Elliott Advisors, which holds a 4.8% stake in Bezeq, has called on the board to appoint new independent directors and demanded the immediate resignation of those who are implicated in the investigation.

Netanayhu has also been linked to an additional affair, dubbed Case 1270, which involves his former spokesman Nir Hefetz, whom police suspect offered judge Hila Gerstel the job of attorney general if she agreed to halt an investigation focused on the prime minister’s wife, Sara.

Kamir is said to have relayed an offer from Hefetz to Gerstner in that case.

Earlier this month, police recommended that Netanyahu be indicted for fraud, breach of trust, and bribery, in two other cases.

In Case 1000, Netanyahu and his wife are alleged to have received illicit gifts from billionaire benefactors, most notably the Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan, totaling NIS 1 million ($282,000). In return, Netanyahu is alleged by police to have intervened on Milchan’s behalf in matters relating to legislation, business dealings, and visa arrangements.

Case 2000 involves a suspected illicit quid pro quo deal between Netanyahu and Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes that would have seen the prime minister weaken a rival daily, the Sheldon Adelson-backed Israel Hayom, in return for more favorable coverage from Yedioth.

Netanyahu is set to be questioned by police, possibly as a suspect, in Case 4000 on Friday.

He is also expected to give testimony in Case 3000, which involves suspected corruption in the multi-billion-shekel purchase of submarines and other naval vessels and from a German shipbuilder. The investigation has focused on suspicions that state officials were bribed to influence a decision to purchase four patrol boats and three Dolphin-class submarines, costing a total of 2 billion euros, from ThyssenKrupp, despite opposition to the deal from the Defense Ministry.

He has denied any wrongdoing in all the cases.