Nadene Goldfoot
President Herzog today received a letter from President Trump urging him to pardon Prime Minister Netanyahu. While emphasizing that he respects “the independence of the Israeli justice system,”
Trump described the criminal proceedings against Netanyahu as “a political, unjustified prosecution,” adding that Netanyahu “has fought alongside me for a long time, including against the very tough adversary of Israel, Iran.”
Herzog responded that before considering it, Netanyahu would first have to request a pardon, according to Israeli law.
On 21 November 2019, Netanyahu was officially indicted for breach of trust, accepting bribes, and fraud, leading him to legally relinquish his ministry portfolios other than prime minister. Netanyahu's trial in the Jerusalem District Court began on 24 May 2020, with witness testimony starting on 5 April 2021. For the past 6 years he has been working as PM under this stressful period as PM. Who has brought up such charges that have lingered to this date?
De-Beer was replaced as editor by Ron Yaron in 2011. As of 2017, the paper is headed by Noah Mozes's son, Arnon Mozes. Yedioth Ahronoth is an Israeli daily mass market newspaper published in Tel Aviv. Founded in 1939, Yedioth Ahronoth is Israel's largest paid newspaper by sales and circulation and has been described as "undoubtedly the country's number-one paper." It is published in the tabloid format. It is known as centrist, compared to the left-leaning newspaper of record Haaretz and right-leaning, distributed-for-free Israel Hayom newspapers in Israel.
In January 2017, secret recordings were released of conversations between Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Mozes discussing a potential deal in which the newspaper would provide better coverage of Netanyahu in exchange for the government limiting the circulation of competitor Israel Hayom. This led to the opening of "Case 2000" corruption investigation against Netanyahu. Why? Can't the father and former owner of the Newspaper have a discussion about it with the PM? Israel Hayom was giving bad press about Netanyahu for his competitors in politics, Labor. Perhaps other newer ones, as well.
The newspaper is owned by the Yedioth Ahronoth Group, which also owns shares in several Israeli mass media companies, such as "Channel 2", a commercial television channel; "Hot", the national cable TV company; "Yedioth Tikshoret", a group of weekly local newspapers; Vesti, a Russian language newspaper; magazines, such as the weekly TV guide magazine Pnai Plus and weekly women's magazine La'Isha; and other non-media companies. Yedioth Ahronoth has its own publishing house called "Yedioth Sfarim" (Hebrew ידיעות ספרים).
Israel's Attorney General, Avichai Mandelblit, brought the charges against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in 2019. Mandelblit announced the indictment for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust after police investigations recommended charges in three separate cases, based on police allegations that he granted state favors worth hundreds of millions of dollars to an Israeli media businessmen in return for gifts and favorable coverage.
However, the coronavirus pandemic has given Netanyahu an unexpected boon, delaying his corruption trial by two months, as OCCRP reported in March.
The other three defendants in the three cases -- Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper; Shaul Elovitch, controlling shareholder of the Bezeq telecommunications company and his wife Iris, reportedly attended the beginning of the trial. Running into financial difficulties, Komarov sold the paper to Yehuda Mozes, a wealthy land dealer who regarded the paper as an interesting hobby and a long-term financial investment. His sons Reuben and Noah ran the paper, with Noah as the first managing editor.
Before entering the court Netanyahu addressed reporters, insisting that the charges against him “are absurd and fabricated” and that he is the victim of an attempted political coup by the police, the state prosecutors, the left and the media.
He also said that the entire process is designed to remove him and the right-wing camp he leads, Likud, from power for years to come, according to Times of Israel.
The political party that opposed Likud the most in 2019 was the Blue and White (Kahol Lavan) alliance, led by former military chief Benny Gantz and centrist politician Yair Lapid. Blue and White (Hebrew: כָּחוֹל לָבָן, Kahol Lavan) was a centrist and liberal Zionist political alliance in Israel. It was established by the Israel Resilience Party, Yesh Atid and Telem to run in the April 2019 Knesset election, in hopes of defeating Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
The start of Netanyahu’s trial unleashed protests of his supporters as well as his opponents.
Hundreds of supporters and opponents gathered in front of Jerusalem's District Court, but also outside Netanyahu's official residence, the Jewish Journal reported Monday.
While the opposition was protesting against Netanyahu on the streets of Jerusalem, his long-time rival Benny Gantz, with whom Netanyahu formed a coalition government last month, stood up for the prime minister stressing he “is innocent until proven guilty.”. Thank you Benny Gantz. What a crazy accusation that was made; all competition in a Presidential race and its promotions or demotions. Good Grief!
update: 12:49pm: In the UsA, It is illegal to intercept communications between third parties. Law enforcement can also use intercepted communications in violation of the act. However, the law has an exception for businesses. A company can intercept calls with consent.
In Israel, the law generally prohibits wiretapping or electronic surveillance of individuals without proper legal authorization, primarily a court order. "Regular" wiretaps are forbidden unless there is a suspicion of a serious criminal offense, typically one punishable by ten years or more in prison (though political offenses like public corruption have at times been excluded).In essence, any form of electronic surveillance that bypasses judicial review, lacks a legitimate and serious criminal or security justification, or is conducted without a valid and honestly obtained court order is not allowed under Israeli law. Was the police in on this to do a wire tapping? Even if people are talking, they are not acting on it. Isn't it the action that counts?
In Israel, phone privacy is regulated by the Privacy Protection Law, which prohibits unauthorized recording or disclosure of private information and has specific provisions for marketing calls. This includes the requirement to get consent for processing personal data and a "do not call" registry for consumers. Violations can result in criminal charges, civil lawsuits, and hefty fines for organizations, according to CookieScript, ICLG.com, and IAPP.
Resource:
israelAM
https://www.occrp.org/en/news/israeli-court-begins-corruption-trial-against-netanyahu
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yedioth_Ahronoth
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-middle-east-47316511
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