The Jerusalem court delayed ruling on whether two Palestinians families must vacate their homes in favor of Israeli settlers in the Silwan neighborhood.
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Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (left) and President Reuven Rivlin at the President s Residence in Jerusalem, September 25, 2019, when Rivlin tapped Netanyahu to form the next Israeli government. (Yonatan Sindel/Flash 90
Ilan Yeshua, the former CEO of the Walla news site, testified Wednesday during his cross-examination in the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu that his website had conducted a campaign on behalf of the premier aimed at preventing Reuven Rivlin from being elected president in 2014.
Questioned by Netanyahu’s lawyer Boaz Ben Tzur, Yeshua acknowledged that in addition to tilting the website’s coverage to favor Netanyahu in an alleged quid pro quo bribery deal, Walla had also tilted its coverage in favor of Yisrael Beytenu party leader Avigdor Liberman.
Some 19 families face removal from their homes under court order; cases come after international attention drawn to similar situation in nearby Sheikh Jarrah neighborhood
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May. 25, 2021 8:46 PM
Former Labor Party chairman Isaac Herzog, who is now the leading candidate as Israel s next president, in effect dictated a headline to Ilan Yeshua, the CEO of the Walla news website at the time, who is now a key prosecution witness in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s bribery trial. Herzog s request for a headline came after Herzog won an internal party battle at the 2013 Labor Party convention.
Under cross-examination of Yeshua Tuesday in Jerusalem District Court, lawyers for Shaul Elovitch and his wife, Iris, produced a 2013 message from Herzog to Yeshua: “I’d be happy if the headline is ‘Crushing victory for Herzog in spite of the attacks on him,’” the Labor leader wrote. “I need to demonstrate control and exclusion of the bitch,” referring to former Labor Party leader and MK Shelly Yacimovich.
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Police stand guard outside the Jerusalem District Court as Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu attends his corruption trial there, April 5, 2021. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)
The Jerusalem District Court was evacuated on Monday afternoon due to security concerns, amid ongoing riots in and around the nearby Old City.
Security guards remained at the courthouse, but all other occupants were removed.
Earlier in the day, the court hosted Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial, with the hearing ending over an hour before the evacuation. Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, was not at the court, having received permission to skip the testimony of the state’s witness who was on the stand.