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Police Question Netanyahu for 11th Time in Corruption Probe

TEL AVIV (Sputnik) - Israeli police have confirmed that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was questioned on Friday as part of the investigation into the Bezeq-Walla corruption affair, also known as Case 4000.
Sputnik

"We confirm that the prime minister was questioned in his residence in Jerusalem within the framework of the investigation run by Lahav 433 police unit and the securities department," the press release said, adding that the questioning lasted for several hours.

In February, former Netanyahu spokesman Nir Hefetz, and Shlomo Filber, the ex-director of the communications ministry, were arrested on suspicion of promoting regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israeli telecom company Bezeq in return for favorable coverage of the prime minister on Bezeq's highly popular news site, Walla. Bezeq chairman Shaul Elovitch is also in custody, along with his wife, son and other Bezeq executives.

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Netanyahu himself has not yet been named as a suspect in the case. Today's questioning is the 11th for Netanyahu in a series of corruption probes.

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The Israeli prime minister is suspected of being involved in two other separate corruption cases — Case 1000 and Case 2000. The first one has focused on Netanyahu's receipt of expensive gifts from members of the business community, the total value of which is estimated at $300,000. In Case 2000, Netanyahu is alleged to have attempted to conclude a deal with the publisher Yedioth Ahronoth to cover the government's activities in a favorable way. Netanyahu, for his part, said he would adopt a bill that would limit the opportunities of the newspaper Israel Hayom, Yedioth Ahronoth's main competitor.

READ MORE: Israeli Police Interrogate Netanyahu and His Wife Over Corruption Charges

Regarding Case 2000, the police said that they have "collected sufficient evidence basis" to indict Netanyahu on bribery, fraud and abuse of trust and recommended to indict Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes on bribery charges.

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