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Israeli Prosecution to Question Netanyahu Again in 'Case 1000'

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference at his office in Jerusalem August 27, 2014. Photo: REUTERS
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference at his office in Jerusalem August 27, 2014. Photo: REUTERS
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Israeli Prosecution to Question Netanyahu Again in 'Case 1000'

Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference at his office in Jerusalem August 27, 2014. Photo: REUTERS
Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu gestures during a news conference at his office in Jerusalem August 27, 2014. Photo: REUTERS

Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu is expected to be questioned by police again on June 12, Channel 10 News reported on Friday evening.

According to the report, Netanyahu is expected to be questioned three or four more times in Case 1000, Case 2000 and Case 4000.

Case 1000 revolves around claims Netanyahu received gifts from a Hollywood billionaire and Australian businessman in exchange for political favor. Case 2000 revolves around allegations Netanyahu tried to reach an agreement with Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon Mozes that would provide him with positive news coverage in exchange for shuttering rival newspaper Israel Hayom. Case 4000 centers on suspicions that a Netanyahu aide provided chief Bezeq shareholder Shaul Elovitch with regulatory benefits in exchange for sympathetic coverage to the prime minister and his wife on the Walla! news website, which is owned by Elovitch as well.

According to Friday’s report, state witness Nir Hefetz told police investigators that during a trip to Manhattan, the wife of Prime Minister Sarah Netanyahu received credit cards with which bought gifts for herself.

Specifically in Case 4000, reports revealed that Hefetz testified to the police that he “spoke to Elovitch six to seven times a day” when he served as Netanyahu’s adviser.

Moreover, Hefetz related that during a visit to Manhattan by the Netanyahu family, wealthy Jews gave Sara Netanyahu credit cards with which to buy herself gifts.

A statement released on behalf of the prime minister said: “These are total lies regarding the Netanyahu-Elovitch relations. The false and malicious claim that the prime minister and his wife used friends’ credit cards is also false. This never happened.”

Hefez turned state’s evidence and gave police text messages and recordings. These allegedly suggest an improper quid pro quo relationship between the Netanyahus and Elovitch, whose Bezeq corporation owns the Walla news website.

According to Channel 10 News, one of the text messages was sent by Sara Netanyahu to Elovitch’s wife a day after the prime minister had approved the merger deal between the satellite television company Yes and Bezeq, which benefitted the giant telecommunication corporation. Sara Netanyahu allegedly expressed resentment over the Walla site’s coverage of the couple, despite the prime minister’s approval of the deal. Last Friday Haaretz reported that, in one of the recordings, Elovitch said: “I understand he was willing to commit suicide for me,” in describing the governmental assistance Bezeq received from Netanyahu, although Elovitch denies that he was referring to the prime minister.

Israeli officials said the prosecution saw a significant link between the cases 2000 and 4000, yet the police have not yet made their recommendations yet.

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France Opens ‘Complicity in Genocide’ Probes over Blocked Gaza Aid

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from Israel, June 5, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from Israel, June 5, 2025. (Reuters)
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France Opens ‘Complicity in Genocide’ Probes over Blocked Gaza Aid

An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from Israel, June 5, 2025. (Reuters)
An Israeli tank maneuvers in Gaza, as seen from Israel, June 5, 2025. (Reuters)

French anti-terror prosecutors have opened probes into "complicity in genocide" and "incitement to genocide" after French-Israelis allegedly blocked aid intended for war-torn Gaza last year, they said on Friday.

The two investigations, opened after legal complaints, were also to look into possible "complicity in crimes against humanity" between January and May 2024, the anti-terror prosecutor's office (PNAT) said.

They are the first known probes in France to be looking into alleged violations of international law in Gaza, several sources with knowledge of the cases told AFP.

In a separate case made public on the same day, the grandmother of two children with French nationality who were killed in an Israeli strike in Gaza has filed a legal complaint in Paris, accusing Israel of "genocide" and "murder", her lawyer said.

The French judiciary has jurisdiction when French citizens are involved in such cases.

Rights groups, lawyers and some Israeli historians have described the Gaza war as "genocide".

Israel, created in the aftermath of the Nazi Holocaust of Jews during World War II, vehemently rejects the accusation.

The French probes were opened after two separate legal complaints.

In the first, the Jewish French Union for Peace (UFJP) and a French-Palestinian victim filed a complaint in November targeting alleged French members of hardline pro-Israel groups "Israel is forever" and "Tzav-9".

It accused them of "physically" preventing the passage of trucks at border checkpoints controlled by the Israeli army.

Lawyers for the plaintiffs, Damia Taharraoui and Marion Lafouge, told AFP they were happy a probe had been launched into the events in January 2024 -- "a time when no-one wanted to hear anything about genocide".

A source close to the case said prosecutors last month urged the investigation in relation to events at the Nitzana crossing point between Egypt and Israel, and the Kerem Shalom crossing from Israel into Gaza.

Around that time, hardline Israeli protesters -- including friends and relatives of hostages held in Gaza -- blocked aid lorries from entering the occupied Palestinian territory and forced them to turn back at Kerem Shalom.

A second complaint from a group called the Lawyers for Justice in the Middle East (CAPJO) accused members of "Israel is forever" of having blocked aid trucks.

It used photos, videos and public statements to back up its complaint.

- 'Genocide' complaint -

No court has so far concluded that the ongoing conflict is a genocide.

But in rulings in January, March and May 2024, the International Court of Justice (ICJ), the United Nations' highest judicial organ, told Israel to do everything possible to "prevent" acts of genocide during its military operations in Gaza, including through allowing in urgently needed aid.

In the separate case, Jacqueline Rivault, the grandmother of six- and nine-year-old children killed in an Israeli strike, filed her complaint accusing Israel of "genocide" and "murder" with the crimes against humanity section of the Court of Paris, lawyer Arie Alimi said.

Though formally against unnamed parties, the complaint explicitly targets Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, the Israeli government and the military.

The complaint states that an Israeli missile strike killed Janna, six, and Abderrahim Abudaher, nine, in northern Gaza on October 24, 2023.

"We believe these children are dead as part of a deliberate organized policy targeting the whole of Gaza's population with a possible genocidal intent," Alimi said.

The children's brother Omar, now five, was severely wounded but still lives in Gaza with their mother, identified as Yasmine Z., the complaint said.

A French court in 2019 convicted Yasmine Z. in absentia of having funded a "terrorist" group over giving money in Gaza to members of Palestinian armed groups Hamas and the Islamic Jihad.

- Famine warnings -

Israel said last month it was easing the complete blockade of Gaza it imposed on March 2 but on May 30 the United Nations said the territory's entire population of more than two million people remained at risk of famine.

A US-backed aid group last week began distributions but reports that the Israeli military shot dead dozens of Palestinians trying to collect food has sparked widespread condemnation.

The UN and major aid organizations have refused to cooperate with the US-backed Gaza Humanitarian Fund, citing concerns that it was designed to cater to Israeli military objectives.

Hamas fighters launched an attack on Israel on October 7, 2023. A total of 1,218 people died, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The fighters abducted 251 hostages, 55 of whom remain in Gaza, including 32 the Israeli military says are dead.

Israel's retaliatory war on Hamas-run Gaza has killed 54,677 people, mostly civilians, according to the health ministry there, figures the United Nations deems reliable.

The International Criminal Court has issued arrest warrants against Netanyahu and former Israeli defense minister Yoav Gallant for alleged war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

It also issued an arrest warrant for Hamas military chief Mohammed Deif over similar allegations linked to the October 7 attack but the case against him was dropped in February after confirmation Israel had killed him.