CRIMINAL CYBER CAPITALI$M
Netanyahu trial fight over Pegasus goes into high gearBy YONAH JEREMY BOB
The Jerusalem Post
© (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS)
BENJAMIN NETANYAHU seen at Jerusalem District Court during his trial.
Lawyers in the public corruption trial of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed their fight over the impact of the Pegasus police spying allegations on the case before the Jerusalem District Court on Monday.
In early February, when the spying scandal allegations broke out, the case was paused in the middle of the testimony of prosecution witness Cable Authority legal adviser Dana Neufeld, who was testifying about the legality of the Bezeq-YES merger at the center of the Case 4000 media bribery allegations.
At the time, lawyers for the defense claimed that the entire trial should be canceled or at least halted for an extended period in order to dig into the allegations against the police for spying.
Since then, However, the Netanyahu prosecution team as well as the broader review performed by Deputy Attorney-General Amit Merari along with Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials last week, found that there was no broad conspiracy and no wide-ranging law-breaking by the police.
The prosecution team did admit to hacking the cell phone of former top Netanyahu aide turned state's witness Shlomo Filber and to trying to with the cell phone of defendant Iris Elovitch, wife of Bezeq and Walla owner Shaul Elovitch. They also admitted to considering hacking the cell phone of a third party witness in the case – who, based on the description, is likely former top Netanyahu aide turned state's witness Ari Harow
Lawyers in the public corruption trial of former prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu renewed their fight over the impact of the Pegasus police spying allegations on the case before the Jerusalem District Court on Monday.
In early February, when the spying scandal allegations broke out, the case was paused in the middle of the testimony of prosecution witness Cable Authority legal adviser Dana Neufeld, who was testifying about the legality of the Bezeq-YES merger at the center of the Case 4000 media bribery allegations.
At the time, lawyers for the defense claimed that the entire trial should be canceled or at least halted for an extended period in order to dig into the allegations against the police for spying.
Since then, However, the Netanyahu prosecution team as well as the broader review performed by Deputy Attorney-General Amit Merari along with Mossad and Shin Bet (Israel Security Agency) officials last week, found that there was no broad conspiracy and no wide-ranging law-breaking by the police.
The prosecution team did admit to hacking the cell phone of former top Netanyahu aide turned state's witness Shlomo Filber and to trying to with the cell phone of defendant Iris Elovitch, wife of Bezeq and Walla owner Shaul Elovitch. They also admitted to considering hacking the cell phone of a third party witness in the case – who, based on the description, is likely former top Netanyahu aide turned state's witness Ari Harow
.
© Provided by The Jerusalem Post
FORMER ISRAELI police commissioner Roni Alsheich during a visit to the Western Wall in 2016. It was during Alsheich’s tenure that spyware became increasingly used by the police (credit: AMIR COHEN/REUTERS)
At this point, the debate is expected to at least partially revolve around whether the hacking of Filber's cell phone was a sufficient violation to lead to invalidating aspects of his testimony and related evidence.
The prosecution has argued that the hacking was connected to an earlier court order which gave them physical access to his cell phone, such that even if the hacking went beyond the court order, it was not a significant violation.
In addition, they argue that nothing which the police cyber unit collected during the hacking was used for the purposes of the indictment.
If true, this could help overcome the defense's attempt to invalidate Filber-related evidence.
Elovitch lawyer Jacques Chen said on Monday that it was crucial for the court to consider that the Merari report was based on an initial review performed by the police checking itself.
Chen said this was an improper method that harms the validity of the report.
Further, he said that Filber decided to flip into being a state's witness shortly after the cell phone hacking took place on February 15, 2018, such that the claim that the hacking had no impact on the case was nonsensical.
He slammed the prosecution for arguing that it does not need to fully give over evidence related to Filber and the hacking.
The prosecution has issued two confidential declarations, on February 16 and 24, noting materials for the defense that it does not plan to turn over either because it is classified or is not relevant to the legal defense team's case.
At this point, the debate is expected to at least partially revolve around whether the hacking of Filber's cell phone was a sufficient violation to lead to invalidating aspects of his testimony and related evidence.
The prosecution has argued that the hacking was connected to an earlier court order which gave them physical access to his cell phone, such that even if the hacking went beyond the court order, it was not a significant violation.
In addition, they argue that nothing which the police cyber unit collected during the hacking was used for the purposes of the indictment.
If true, this could help overcome the defense's attempt to invalidate Filber-related evidence.
Elovitch lawyer Jacques Chen said on Monday that it was crucial for the court to consider that the Merari report was based on an initial review performed by the police checking itself.
Chen said this was an improper method that harms the validity of the report.
Further, he said that Filber decided to flip into being a state's witness shortly after the cell phone hacking took place on February 15, 2018, such that the claim that the hacking had no impact on the case was nonsensical.
He slammed the prosecution for arguing that it does not need to fully give over evidence related to Filber and the hacking.
The prosecution has issued two confidential declarations, on February 16 and 24, noting materials for the defense that it does not plan to turn over either because it is classified or is not relevant to the legal defense team's case.
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