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.
