Netanyahu legal team: No reason to contact 'Walla' to promote articles against our narrative

Defendant Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu argued during his third day of testimony in his media bribery trial that if he wished to interfere with Walla’s 2013 election coverage, he would not have needed an intermediary and, therefore, he was not behind whoever allegedly contacted the media outlet.

While the prosecution had presented Zeev Rubinstein, a mutual friend of Netanyahu and codefendant, as the middleman between the prime minister and Shaul Elovitch, who is the owner of both Walla and Bezeq, the telecommunications company, the defense contended that Netanyahu could have contacted Elovitch directly to facilitate positive coverage from Walla in exchange for policies beneficial to Bezeq.

“If I wanted to contact Elovitch, I could have picked up a telephone,” said Netanyahu.

It made no sense for the prime minister to work through intermediaries during what Netanyahu said was the “money time” of his political campaign when every moment counted.

When immediate response was required, Rubinstein was in the United States in a different time zone. Further, his friend, who he presented as well-meaning but ill-informed, did not have the necessary understanding of Israeli politics.

“I don’t remember speaking to Rubinstein once during the campaign,” said Netanyahu.

Rubinstein sent eight inquiries to Walla in the days leading up to the election, according to the defense. Netanyahu said he had no knowledge of the inquiries, and the defense noted that his name was not mentioned. One of the eight inquiries was reportedly answered, but the defense said the rest were not.

Netanyahu said that the testimonies of others reflected that if Rubinstein spoke to Elovitch about Walla’s media coverage, he acted of his own accord out of a desire to please the prime minister’s wife, Sara Netanyahu.

Requests by his wife to change pictures of her used in Walla articles were made of her own initiative, Netanyahu said, stating that he did not have the time to speak to his wife during political campaigns, let alone to make such requests.

He also questioned how it would impact the election.

“I don’t have time for this,” Netanyahu repeated throughout the testimony.

In the campaign’s final hours, he had no time to speak to Rubinstein or Elovitch about a website he described as of fringe importance. Item by item in the indictment, Netanyahu denied contacting Elovitch.

“I won’t say I’ve never contacted him, but to say that we had some sort of understanding is wrong,” said the prime minister.

On Monday, the defense highlighted several of Walla’s articles that portrayed Netanyahu or the Likud negatively – to discredit the idea that Netanyahu and Elovitch had a deal with the company for favorable media coverage.

Defense highlights

The defense argued that if there had been an agreement, Walla should have published the most sympathetic articles about Netanyahu during the vital period just before the election.

Netanyahu claimed that some of the articles were damaging to his political campaign. One article lacked a response from a Likud spokesperson, which the prime minister said was the minimum possible for a news outlet.

Haddad asked: If there was a bribery scheme, why wouldn’t Netanyahu have asked Elovitch why the Likud’s position wasn’t included in the article?

“The indictment is collapsing,” said Netanyahu, as he pressed that there were no requests made on his benefit to Walla for favored coverage.

Articles that attacked then-opposition candidate and former Jewish Home leader Naftali Bennett, the defense said, contradicted the narratives that his campaign attempted to promulgate.

One article highlighted Bennett’s wife reportedly eating at a non-kosher restaurant. Netanyahu said there was no reason for him to order an article presenting Bennett as more liberal rather than too far to the Right.

Netanyahu said that articles favoring Likud were about standard newsworthy items that many other outlets covered. He argued that nothing was exceptional about the Walla coverage, but the prosecution presented it otherwise, following a rushed investigation.

“Why didn’t you check [other news outlets]? When you check, everyone does the same thing,” Netanyahu said.The defense presented a statement by one of the investigators boasting that the investigation was done so quickly, which the defense built on to present the building of the case as sloppy.

Netanyahu said that the investigation hadn’t asked him enough questions, hadn’t provided him with the materials, and hadn’t given him a chance to respond to the allegations. The defense said that only 10 of the 315 items of the bribery charge were presented to Netanyahu during his interrogation.

“Why did you rush?” Netanyahu asked. “It was the fastest investigation ever.”

Haddad also lambasted the allegedly quick investigation when asked by the judges if he intended to examine each of the 315 items of the bribery charge, saying that he had the opportunity to take the time and do what the prosecutor’s office and investigators had neglected to have done.

Despite being held two levels below ground in the Tel Aviv District Court bunker chamber, the trial was not safe from the impact of the war. Rocket sirens momentarily interrupted the proceedings, and the prime minister was brought sensitive notes from his aides.

When the prosecution complained about the defendant being given notes during his testimony that the rest of the chamber wasn’t privy to, Netanyahu dropped his usual wryly exasperated demeanor to lash back.

“I want to give my testimony. But I am the prime minister,” he said.

The defendant explained that there were limits to what he could do to balance court proceedings and his responsibilities as prime minister. Netanyahu’s responsibility as prime minister may have led him to request the cancellation of the Tuesday trial session.

The explanation could not be publicly shared, but the judges asked Haddad to provide a written explanation. Upon receiving the note, the judges requested that the media and audience leave the chamber so they could confer with the legal teams about the information.

Ultimately, Netanyahu’s request to cancel the Tuesday testimony was granted. The next time that Netanyahu will take the stand, assuming there are no more interruptions, is Wednesday.