عربي English Türkçe اردو فارسى
Logo
Latest News
World

Israel’s Netanyahu Obsessed with Image, Court Told

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by journalists and lawyers in a courtroom before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in Netanyahu's corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, November 22, 2021. (Reuters)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by journalists and lawyers in a courtroom before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in Netanyahu's corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, November 22, 2021. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Israel’s Netanyahu Obsessed with Image, Court Told

Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by journalists and lawyers in a courtroom before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in Netanyahu's corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, November 22, 2021. (Reuters)
Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is surrounded by journalists and lawyers in a courtroom before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in Netanyahu's corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, November 22, 2021. (Reuters)

Israel's former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought "total and complete" control over his media image, his ex-spokesman told the graft trial of the veteran leader on Monday.

"If we use the term 'control freak,' he is much more than that," said Nir Hefetz. "In everything relating to the media, he demands to know everything, down to the smallest detail."

The testimony of Hefetz, seen as a key prosecution witness in Israel's highest-profile trial, had been postponed from last week at the request of Netanyahu's legal team.

Netanyahu -- who was Israel's longest serving prime minister, including a record 12-year tenure from 2009 to 2021, and now head of the opposition -- has been charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust.

The indictments collectively accuse him of accepting improper gifts and illegally trading regulatory favor with media moguls in exchange for positive coverage.

Hefetz said in his district court testimony that Netayahu's "control over everything relating to media matters and his social media channels could not be higher".

"Netanyahu spends at least as much as his time on media as he spends on security matters, including on matters an outsider would consider nonsense."

The session focused on Netanyahu allegedly granting favors to Shaul Elovitch, then-head of Israel's largest telecom company, Bezeq, in exchange for favorable coverage by its Walla news website.

Netanyahu is accused of offering regulatory benefits that could have been worth millions to the company in return for the politically advantageous coverage.

Hefetz said that in 2015, shortly before elections, Elovitch contacted him regularly to lobby for governmental approval of his group's merger with cable TV operator Yes, and to find out who would be the next communications minister.

"I think he (Elovitch) was thinking at the time: who knows who will win; so the Yes deal had to be signed first," Hefetz said.

Netanyahu left after the first few hours of testimony Monday after receiving permission from the court.

Most Viewed

 
 
World

WHO Eyes ‘Encouraging’ Signs in DR Congo Fight Against Ebola

A member of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service prepares to swab the body of a child suspected of having died from Ebola at the Butembo Unit Hospital morgue, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service prepares to swab the body of a child suspected of having died from Ebola at the Butembo Unit Hospital morgue, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

WHO Eyes ‘Encouraging’ Signs in DR Congo Fight Against Ebola

A member of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service prepares to swab the body of a child suspected of having died from Ebola at the Butembo Unit Hospital morgue, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)
A member of the civil protection team's dignified and safe burial service prepares to swab the body of a child suspected of having died from Ebola at the Butembo Unit Hospital morgue, in Butembo, North Kivu province, Democratic Republic of Congo, September 13, 2026. (Reuters)

The Ebola epidemic in the Democratic Republic of Congo is still spreading but appears to be showing "encouraging" signs of improvement, the head of the World Health Organization said on Wednesday.

"We are starting to see encouraging signs that we're gaining ground," Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus told a news conference in Geneva.

Since the DRC declared its 17th Ebola outbreak in mid-May, more than 3,500 deaths have been recorded from over 7,200 cases to date across seven northern and eastern provinces plagued by widespread insecurity and a litany of armed groups.

Ebola, which is transmitted through contact with bodily fluids and can cause severe internal and external bleeding and organ failure, has killed more than 15,000 people in Africa over the last 50 years.

Tedros said that transmission was declining in the worst-affected areas of Ituri province, the epicenter of the outbreak, while South Kivu has not reported any new cases since May.

"Trials of treatments and post-exposure prophylaxis are picking up speed, due to increased community engagement," he added.

"Vaccine trials should begin in the coming weeks," Tedros said, while warning against complacency. "Make no mistake: the epidemic continues to grow and continues to kill," he said.

"We still have many, many months ahead of us," added Maria Van Kerkhove, director of epidemic and pandemic management at the UN health agency.

- Right response -

In North Kivu, the number of cases was rising "fast", Tedros said, with weekly cases almost doubling from about 100 to more than 200.

"The area is so vast that it is hard to speak of a single epidemic. It is many outbreaks, in many places. We must get the response right in every one of them," he added.

The remoteness of the province, high population mobility and attacks on humanitarian workers were further complicating efforts to fight the epidemic, he explained.

The Africa Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) and the WHO issued a funding appeal in June for $518 million to support the epidemic response until November.

Both organizations and the Congolese government earlier this month launched a new bid for $1.3 billion for the next six months, on top of the $1.1 billion requested by the UN in August for humanitarian assistance, WHO health emergencies chief Chikwe Ihekweazu said.

There is currently no approved vaccine or treatment against the Bundibugyo strain responsible for the current outbreak.

Some 70,000 doses of the Ervebo vaccine, which has been approved against the Zaire strain of Ebola, have been sent to the DRC to assess its effects on tackling the spread of Bundibugyo.

More than 3,000 health workers and frontline staff have already been vaccinated in Kisangani, said Meg Doherty, director of science for health at the UN health agency.

An observational study led by the Doctors Without Borders (MSF) charity will start on Saturday to evaluate the vaccine's effectiveness in reducing illness and death, she added.

Clinical trials of two vaccines in development against Bundibugyo will take place in the country on a date to be fixed.

World

Netanyahu’s Party Seeks to Impede Israeli Expat Voting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters after delivering a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters after delivering a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
TT
TT

Netanyahu’s Party Seeks to Impede Israeli Expat Voting

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters after delivering a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu greets supporters after delivering a statement to members of the press, in Jerusalem, September 8, 2026. (Reuters)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's party on Wednesday petitioned the electoral commission to block initiatives aimed at helping Israelis who live abroad return to vote in upcoming close-fought elections.

Israel's electoral law does not allow citizens residing outside the country to vote abroad, except for diplomats and emissaries sent by certain organizations. The Central Bureau of Statistics estimates there are 600,000 Israelis living abroad.

Government opponents have been working for several weeks to encourage voters to come home to cast their ballots, hoping to strengthen the anti-Netanyahu camp in elections scheduled for October 27.

Initiatives include offering discounted plane tickets, assisting expatriates with the administrative procedures required to vote and organizing their transport from the airport.

Attorney Ilan Bombach, representing Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party, filed an appeal on Wednesday with the chairman of the Central Elections Committee demanding an end to these practices.

The petition specifically targets the US-based AID Coalition, an organization which says it is aimed at "strengthening and preserving the democratic foundations of the State of Israel" and is behind the "Fly&Vote" scheme.

The petition also targets the opposition Democrats party.

In his appeal, seen by AFP, Bombach likens these methods to an "electoral bribe" and argues that they violate the law on party financing.

Likud maintains that even if the passengers themselves pay for their plane tickets, the "Fly&Vote" scheme grants illicit benefits, such as discounted fares negotiated with airlines through group bookings.

The AID Coalition, which says it is an apolitical organization, has not immediately responded.

On its website, the organization describes the upcoming elections as "critical for the future of the country".

It says the law stipulating that Israelis must be physically in Israel to vote "impacts hundreds of thousands of dedicated Israelis who serve in the reserves... pay taxes, and never-endingly support Israel".

Michal Dagon from the AID Coalition recently told left-leaning daily Haaretz that the organization aimed to help bring between 50,000 and 70,000 voters from abroad to cast their ballots.

More than 30,000 Israelis have already registered, organizers said.

According to polls, the elections are expected to be tightly contested between the bloc led by Netanyahu and that of his main rival, centrist Gadi Eisenkot.

World

Putin Casts Parliamentary Election as Barometer of Support for War, Urges Russians to Vote

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) Anna Popova at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) Anna Popova at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
TT
TT

Putin Casts Parliamentary Election as Barometer of Support for War, Urges Russians to Vote

Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) Anna Popova at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)
Russian President Vladimir Putin listens to the Head of the Russian Federal Service for the Oversight of Consumer Protection and Welfare (Rospotrebnadzor) Anna Popova at the Kremlin in Moscow, Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2026. (Vyacheslav Prokofyev/Sputnik, Kremlin Pool Photo via AP)

President Vladimir Putin ‌on Wednesday framed participation in an upcoming parliamentary election as a barometer of support for Russia's war in Ukraine and urged Russians to vote.

Russia holds a three-day parliamentary election starting on Friday to choose the composition of its 450-seat lower house of parliament, the State Duma, which has a track record of faithfully approving the Kremlin's initiatives.

It is the first parliamentary election since Russia launched its ‌full-scale war ‌in Ukraine in February 2022 and ‌comes ⁠at a time when ⁠opinion polls show some Russians have become more anxious about how the conflict affects them, as the economy is under strain, and as most anti-war candidates have been excluded from the ballot.

The political system is tightly controlled and the ⁠ruling United Russia party, backed by Putin, ‌is widely expected to retain ‌its dominance.

In a televised address to the nation ‌ahead of the vote, Putin referred to the ‌war in Ukraine and to Russian-controlled parts of Ukraine, saying that casting a vote would help secure Russia's victory and demonstrate national resolve in the face of external ‌pressure.

"Your choice and your will once again demonstrate that millions of people ⁠stand ⁠behind our soldiers, that we are a united people bound together by shared values, historical memory, and love for our homeland, and that no one will succeed in dividing or intimidating us, or in undermining our statehood and our socio-political system," Putin said.

He said the vote would serve as a collective response to those seeking to weaken Russia, hinder its development, and deprive it of its sovereignty and right to determine its own future.