As the trial investigating corruption in the Prime Minister's Office continues, six years after it began, Israeli public broadcaster KAN News's "Zman Emet (Real Time)" on Monday night broadcast interviews and investigations into the narrative surrounding the cases currently in court.
The broadcast, through precise and thorough investigative work, asked a key question around Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial: How can it be that the same prime minister who declared eight years ago that claims he is evading his trial are "nonsense," and that he has "been waiting for it," is also the same leader who has allegedly been operating a system to pressure the trial to cease?
In the past year, the pro-Netanyahu camp has reduced Case 1000, which is investigating charges of illicit gift-giving to the prime minister and his family, to the slogans "Bugs Bunny" and "Cigars and Champagne," respectively.
"Bugs Bunny" refers to an allegation that billionaire Arnon Milchan sent Netanyahu's son a doll of the cartoon character approximately 30 years ago.
"Cigars and Champagne" refers to how Milchan, along with Australian billionaire James Packer, allegedly gifted Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, cigars and champagne worth over $200,000 between 2011 and 2016, in exchange for political and personal favors, including aid with US visa renewals, among other things.
Netanyahu denies criminal wrongdoing in bribery charges
Netanyahu has denied any criminal wrongdoing or quid pro quo in exchange for allegedly receiving gifts while in office.
The slogans aimed to divert attention away from the seriousness of the allegations and convince people that it was an absurd persecution over a cartoon doll, a few boxes of cigars, and some alcohol.
"Real Time," however, aimed to remind that the Bugs Bunny doll does not appear at all in the Case 1000 indictment, and that the value of the gifts is not just a few bottles, but hundreds of thousands of shekels. It also highlighted that the allegations are not about the existence of gifts, but about suspicions that the gifts were bribes given illicitly in exchange for benefits.
The broadcast also aimed to remind viewers that Case 4000 is investigating the connection between governmental power and regulatory benefits and the requests from the prime minister, his family, and others close to him, who allegedly intervened in media coverage of the Netanyahus.
Has Herzog met with people close to Netanyahu, discussing pardon potential?
One part of the investigation also queries why Netanyahu's supporters are pushing President Isaac Herzog to grant a pardon, even though Netanyahu has not appeared to explicitly ask for one.
Herzog's close confidant, Moti Sander, had previously been interviewed by Channel 12's "Uvda" program on the matter. KAN went further, asking why Herzog, in 2019, while he was chairman of the Jewish Agency, dealt so intensively with the question of Netanyahu's pardon. He answered that it was because Herzog had already set his sights on becoming president.
This is not proof of a deal but is another piece in the puzzle that has been building for years.
It also investigated how Herzog appears to have held secret meetings with Ron Dermer and Michael Kleiner, both close associates of Netanyahu, in recent months. The meetings are believed to have addressed ending the trial process.
Such meetings occurring are not necessarily improper, but keeping them secret from the public raises questions around transparency, especially when this is a divisive issue within Israeli society, the investigation noted.
The broadcast also investigated data on perceptions of Netanyahu's supporters towards the trial. While they continue to claim that he is being forced to appear for a never-ending trial while managing a war and the state, the investigation presented numbers that tell a different story.
Only 41% of the planned testimony days took place in full during the defense's arguments, and only 24% during the prosecution's investigations. In other words, the scope of cancellations and postponements stands out at the stage when Netanyahu would be required to deal with the different questions from the prosecution.
Postponements and cancellations included urgent security, medical, and diplomatic needs, and others included making time for official ceremonies, state visits, and other public events, but this was not the situation in every case.
In one case, however, a request for postponement was accompanied by a claim of urgent state commitments, while in practice, Netanyahu was seen participating in a public event alongside Transportation Minister Miri Regev.
The broadcast also showed how this trial is a broader struggle over the legitimacy of state institutions, including highlighting what appears to be an entire system of campaigns, pressures, messages, mediators, and activists who have devoted their energy to bring about one goal - the end of the trial before a ruling is made.
The broadcast illustrated how fake news messages have deeply penetrated rhetoric around the trial, and how far some of the players in the system are willing to go in order to undermine the foundations of the legal process.