Onetime Top Aide Testifies against Netanyahu in Graft Trial

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask, looks as his corruption trial resumes, at Jerusalem's District Court April 5, 2021. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask, looks as his corruption trial resumes, at Jerusalem's District Court April 5, 2021. (Reuters)
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Onetime Top Aide Testifies against Netanyahu in Graft Trial

 Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask, looks as his corruption trial resumes, at Jerusalem's District Court April 5, 2021. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask, looks as his corruption trial resumes, at Jerusalem's District Court April 5, 2021. (Reuters)

A onetime top aide to Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand for the first time Wednesday against the former Israeli prime minister engulfed in corruption charges over a scheme to generate positive news coverage.

Shlomo Filber, the director of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu and one of two family confidantes to flip under immunity agreements, testified that Netanyahu wanted him to “mitigate” competition for Israel's Bezeq telecom company, a move worth hundreds of millions of dollars. In return, Bezeq’s popular news site, Walla, allegedly provided favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his family.

Netanyahu, now opposition leader in Israel's parliament, denies any wrongdoing and says the charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery amount to a witch hunt. But the case has cast a deep shadow over his family and his legacy as Israel's longest-serving prime minister.

Like the previous aide-turned-state's witness, Nir Hefetz, Filber described the former Israeli premier as being image-obsessed.

“Netanyahu is hands-off, lets you do your work, he doesn’t get involved in the micro. Except when it has to do with things that really matter to him -- like media,” Filber testified, with Netanyahu and members of his family a few feet away in the small courtroom. “In those cases I could get five to six calls a day.”

Netanyahu is charged in three separate cases. The first alleges that Netanyahu received gifts worth hundreds of thousands of dollars from wealthy associates.

In the second case, Netanyahu is accused of orchestrating positive coverage in a major Israeli paper in exchange for promoting legislation that would have harmed the news outlet’s chief rival, a free pro-Netanyahu daily.

Israeli media has cast the third case as highly dependent on testimony from Filber, dubbed as “the witness without whom Case 4000 might not exist.”

An emotional Filber told the court Wednesday that it was clear to him that Netanyahu wanted him “not to eliminate competition (for Bezeq) but to mitigate it,” then made a hand gesture that suggested a plane landing, according to a pool report of the court proceedings.

“Elovitch reached out to me and told me he has problems with the ministry, a consultancy that set wrong prices,” Filber said, describing that message as, "'Don’t stop competition, but see if you can moderate it.’”

Asked if what Netanyahu asked him would help Elovitch, Filber answered, “Yes,” adding later that there were "50 shades of gray” in how the former premier communicated his request.

Pressed, Filber said he perceived Netanyahu’s instruction as an “action item” which he had to swiftly act on.

Filber's testimony echoed that of Nir Hefetz, formerly Netanyahu's family spokesman, as being the main envoy between Netanyahu and Elovitch. Hefetz said Elovitch's wife, Iris, personally took control over the news site.

“Netanyahu had the greatest control over the Walla website, including what the headline would be, where it would be on the home page,” Hefetz said. “I thought the Elovitches were doing a good job.”

Hefetz told the court last year that Netanyahu was a “control freak” when it came to his public image and spent “at least as much as his time on media as he spends on security matters.”



Iran Says it's Ready for Nuclear Talks with the US but only if Washington Rebuilds Trust

Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
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Iran Says it's Ready for Nuclear Talks with the US but only if Washington Rebuilds Trust

Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)
Iran’s Ambassador to the International Atomic Energy Agency, IAEA, Kazem Gharibabadi, waits for the start of the IAEA board of governors meeting at the International Center in Vienna, Austria, Nov. 21, 2019. (AP Photo/Ronald Zak, file)

Iran is ready to engage in talks on its nuclear program with the United States, but only if Washington takes meaningful steps to rebuild trust, a senior Iranian diplomat said Thursday, ahead of a key meeting with European officials.

That meeting will be the first since a ceasefire was reached after a 12-day war waged by Israel against Iran in June, which also saw US B-52 bombers strike nuclear-related facilities in the Islamic Republic.

The discussions will bring Iranian officials together with officials from Britain, France and Germany — known as the E3 nations — and will include the European Union’s foreign policy chief, Kaja Kallas. A similar meeting had been held in the Turkish city in May.

Iran's conditions In a social media post, Iran's Deputy Foreign Minister Kazem Gharibabadi said Thursday that for talks with the Unites States, Tehran would seek that “several key principles” be upheld, The AP news reported.

These include “rebuilding Iran’s trust — as Iran has absolutely no trust in the United States," he said, adding there could be no room “for hidden agendas such as military action, though Iran remains fully prepared for any scenario.”

Washington would have to respect and recognize Iran’s rights under the international agreement known as the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, including the right to enrich uranium “in line with its legitimate needs” and the lifting of crippling economic sanctions on Iran.

The talks in Istanbul will be held at the deputy ministerial level, with Iran sending Majid Takht-e Ravanchi, the other of Iran's two deputy foreign ministers.

A show of strength Iran’s Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi said in a televised interview Thursday that Tehran would not back down from uranium enrichment. Before the war in June, Iran was enriching uranium up to 60% — a short, technical step from weapons-grade levels.

“Our enrichment will continue, and we will not give up this right of the Iranian people,” Araghchi said in a video posted on the state TV’s Telegram channel.

Iran’s top diplomat said the Istanbul talks with the European parties are necessary, especially after the 12-day war, to make them aware that Iran’s positions remain strong.

“The world must know that there has been no change in our stance,” he said. "We will continue to firmly defend the rights of the Iranian people to peaceful nuclear energy, especially regarding enrichment.”

Araghchi also said that Iran has always been ready to advance its peaceful program within a reasonable and logical framework. “We have never hesitated to build trust with countries that may have concerns,” he said, “but at the same time, Iran’s demand is that its right to peaceful nuclear energy, including enrichment, be respected.”

High stakes European leaders have threatened to trigger a “snapback” mechanism included in a 2015 nuclear deal with Iran, which would reimpose sanctions that were lifted in exchange for Iran accepting restrictions and monitoring of its nuclear program.

The United Kingdom, France and Germany were signatories to the 2015 deal. The US withdrew in 2018 during the first term of President Donald Trump, who insisted the agreement wasn’t tough enough.

Iranian officials have warned that a move to reimpose sanctions would have consequences. Gharibabadi said earlier this week that it could force Tehran to withdraw from key non-proliferation agreements.

In a letter to UN Secretary-General António Guterres, Araghchi accused the E3 of hypocrisy, saying they failed to uphold their obligations under the 2015 deal while supporting Israel’s recent strikes on Iran.

In last month's conflict, Iran responded to Israeli and US strikes with missile attacks, including a strike on a US base in Qatar, which Iranian President Masoud Pezeshkian insisted was not directed at the Qatari state.

In an interview with Al Jazeera that aired on Wednesday, Pezeshkian said Iran is prepared for another war and accused Israel of attempting to assassinate him during a June 15 meeting of Iran's national security council in Tehran.

Pezeshkian reiterated that Iran’s nuclear program will continue within the framework of international law and insisted the country has no intention of pursuing nuclear weapons.

“Our nuclear capabilities are in the minds of our scientists,” he said, emphasizing Iran’s position that future negotiations must be rooted in mutual respect, not threats.

The aftermath of war According to Iran's official judicial news agency Mizan, at least 13 Iranian nuclear scientists were killed during the June Israel-Iran war.

The extent of the damage to Iran's nuclear sites from the war has not been publicly revealed but a spokesman for Iran’s Atomic Energy Organization said Thursday the country’s nuclear industry would recover.

“Our nuclear industry is deeply rooted. What has roots cannot be harmed by attack or pressure — it will grow back and thrive again,” state TV quoted Behrouz Kamalvandi as saying.

The UN nuclear watchdog — the International Atomic Energy Agency, or IAEA — reported in May that Iran’s stockpile of uranium enriched to 60% had grown to over 400 kilograms (882 pounds). That material, just below weapons-grade level, remains a central concern for the West.

After the June war, Iran suspended cooperation with the IAEA, following legislation signed by Pezeshkian.

The road ahead remains uncertain. While European officials say they want to avoid further conflict and are open to a negotiated solution, they have warned that time is running out.