The Philip DeFranco Show - MS 4.4 Why Allegations Against Netanyahu and a Controversial Alliance Might Not Hurt Him

Episode Date: April 4, 2019

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Hello, hello, welcome to your morning show. My name is Philip DeFranco and today we're gonna be talking about a politician facing corruption charges Which yes, I know it doesn't narrow it down There are a number of world leaders with their own corruption scandals But the subject of today's video is Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu aka Bibi. Bibi, oh Bibi, baby He has been a singular force in Israeli politics for a long time now serving as Prime Minister from 1996 to 1999 and again since 2009. And in recent days he visited the White House where President Trump announced the United States would recognize Israel's claims to the disputed Golan Heights territory. So this was a long time in the making. It should have taken place many decades ago. But in just a few days on April 9th, Israel's parliament, the Knesset, will hold early elections, meaning that Netanyahu has the chance to become Israel's longest-serving prime minister. But the outcome of this election isn't at all clear right now, and that is because Netanyahu is facing charges of breach of trust,

fraud, and bribery stemming from three separate cases against him. And with all of this happening, of course, there's been a huge amount of pressure to get him to step down, but he has refused to do so. So with the election just around the corner, we want to take a step back and not only look at the wild allegations against Netanyahu, but how he got here and how Netanyahu is trying to strengthen his position to remain in power Well Israel's last ten years have been practically dominated by Netanyahu's conservative Likud party But recently his grip on power has been slipping in February of 2018 police recommended He be indicted in two corruption cases and then in December police recommended He be indicted in a third corruption case and besides the allegations, Netanyahu's political power has faced challenges.

Since Israel's ministerial positions are selected from members of the Knesset, a minister stepping down can have implications in the legislature too. And in November, that is exactly what we saw happen when the defense minister resigned over Netanyahu's handling of violence along the Gaza Strip. That move brought Netanyahu's ruling coalition

to a majority of just 61 of the 120 Knesset members. And finally in December, the Knesset voted to dissolve the government and hold elections in April of this year because they couldn't agree upon a. And finally, in December, the Knesset voted to dissolve the government and hold elections in April of this year because they couldn't agree upon a draft law. But going back to the indictment, even with the police recommendations, many people have been waiting

to see whether the Attorney General, Avakai Mandelblit, would be announcing an indictment this close to an election. And if he would actually do it since he served as Netanyahu's cabinet secretary just three years ago. And what we ended up seeing is, at last, at the end of February, he announced his intention.

It's not an actual indictment, but intention to indict Netanyahu in three separate cases with charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Which brings us to the question of, well, okay, how serious are the three cases against Netanyahu? Well, the first case is case 1000. It alleges that between 2007 and 2016, Netanyahu received illegal gifts of cigars, pink champagne,

and other lavish gifts from two people. One is Arnon Milchin, an Israeli-born Hollywood mogul, and the second is James Packer, an Australian billionaire. And the gifts in question reportedly amount to about one million shekels, or around $275,000. And Netanyahu allegedly made a few exchanges for these gifts with Milchan, with the biggest one being that Netanyahu rewarded Milchan

by pushing for a law that would reduce taxes for Israelis returning from abroad. And Milchan could have reportedly received about a million shekel tax break or about $275,000 regarding this Netanyahu defends himself saying that the gifts were just signs of their friendship and that there was no exchange for the Gifts from either Milchan or Packer then the second case case 2000 alleges that Netanyahu cut a deal for better coverage in the media According to reports Netanyahu had a phone conversation with Arnon Moses who owns a newspaper called Yediat Eharana And Yediat is typically critical of Netanyahu and during that conversation, it's allegedly discussed ways to reduce a rival newspaper's circulation.

And that rival newspaper was Israel Hayom or Israel Today, which is actually pro-Netanyahu and also free, giving it a high circulation. So in exchange for hurting Israel Today's circulation using either legislation or his influence over the publishers, Yediat was supposed to cover Netanyahu more favorably. And according to reports, the only reason we know

about this conversation is because of Ari Harrow, a former aide to Netanyahu Reportedly he deliberately recorded the call on behalf of Netanyahu Although it is not clear why and the big thing here is that Harrow is now witness for the state against Netanyahu and even though Moses and Netanyahu never actually kicked the plan into action and Netanyahu said he didn't expect the plan to happen He's facing charges of fraud and breach of trust and the last case is case 4000 and this one deals with Netanyahu allegedly seeking favorable coverage in the media So for a long time shall Elavish a media mogul in Israel shared ownership of the yes satellite network with Bezic

Which is Israel's largest telecoms company, but Elavish bought a controlling stake in Bezic back in 2010 bringing both under his control We then fast forward to 2015 Elavish arranges for Bezic to buy Yes satellite network, but at a valuation far above its actual worth and here's where Netanyahu comes in He held both the prime minister and communications minister posts beginning in 2014. During that time, Netanyahu allegedly took steps to ease regulations and help the deal go through, ultimately resulting in a financial benefit for Elevesh

of 1.8 billion shekels, or about $500 million. And in exchange, Netanyahu reportedly received better coverage in Walla News, which Bezic owned, meaning that Elevesh was at the top of this pyramid. And it's alleged that Netanyahu even went as far as intervening in the content that Walla News published, even on a near daily basis around elections. And on the government side, Netanyahu allegedly tampered with employees' work. For example, he reportedly told the Director General of the Communications Ministry, Shlomo Filber,

to make sure Elovich was happy with government policies, which has now ultimately led to the moment that Filber is now a witness for the state, and Netanyahu is facing bribery, fraud, and breach of trust charges. And here, Netanyahu defends himself by saying there's no connection between his actions with Bezic and how Walla News covered him. And in fact, he says that Walla was typically hostile towards him and that Walla did no favors for him in their coverage. And also saying that his actions were supported by other ministry officials and approved by other legal gatekeepers. But with all of that said, there's actually one more step before Netanyahu is actually indicted. Netanyahu is entitled to a pre-indictment hearing where he has the opportunity to refute any evidence against him.

But, and it is a crucial point here, that hearing will not take place before the election. And so this is where Israel starts to get into uncharted territory. If the Attorney General still decides to indict Netanyahu after the hearing, there's technically no legal requirement for him to step down as Prime Minister. Although of note here, when ministers other than the Prime Minister have been indicted, they've been required to step down under both the law and court precedent. And so this has led to some legal experts believing that it may actually apply to Netanyahu's case now despite Netanyahu having such a slim majority in the Knesset and an indictment Hanging over his head he has continued to fight hard on multiple fronts one of the hallmarks of how he has defended himself from the Criticism and the investigation well it'll remind you of another world leader ever wonder what fake news is

And if it wasn't clear enough, Netanyahu has especially attacked the corruption investigation as it's produced police recommendations for charges. And we saw Netanyahu continue to attack it after Mandelblit announced

his intention to indict. This despite the fact that he was widely considered an ally because in the past he served as Netanyahu's cabinet secretary. After I read the

recommendation report, I can say it is biased, extreme, full of holes, like Swiss cheese. During my time as prime minister, great pressures have been placed to open at least 15 investigations against me, with the aim of toppling me from power. The left is doing this because they know they can't beat us at the ballot box. For three years, they've been carrying out a political pursuit against us, an unprecedented hunting expedition with one goal,

to topple the right-wing government led by me. And to fight back, to help his chances at the ballot box, we've seen Netanyahu also opt to form a controversial alliance with groups of ultra-right-wing politicians. And most notably here, the Jewish Home Party. And stay with me, that party, the Jewish Home Party, is a party that merged with another party known as the Jewish Power Party Which is widely considered to be the successor of the Koch Party and that party advocated for a Jewish Theocracy that forced removal of Palestinians and the use of terrorism to achieve its goals But a massive note regarding the Koch Party

They were eventually banned in Israel and designated a terrorist organization by the FBI But with all that said going back to the parties, the current version of the merged parties now, it includes one parliament member who has declared himself a quote, proud homophobe, another party member who is facing charges of incitement to violence, racism, and terrorism in an ongoing case, and a lawyer who is known for representing Israeli settlers implicated in violence in the West Bank.

Now, with all of that said, for many other politicians, all of this would have most likely been a political death sentence a long time ago. But, and this is the biggest note here because it involves the people, Netanyahu is so well liked among Israelis that even with the indictments hanging over his head, a highly controversial alliance, his party still has strong support, and he is still considered the most likely to form a government.

But with that said, a newly formed opposition party known as the Blue and White Party is Netanyahu's biggest threat at the polls. After the Attorney General announced his intention to indict Netanyahu, the Blue and White Party saw good numbers in the polls. They were projected to take about 36 of the 120 Knesset seats, while Netanyahu, the Blue and White Party saw good numbers in the polls. They were projected to take about 36 of the 120 Knesset seats, while Netanyahu's party was projected to take 30. But in recent days, the Blue and White Party's edge

has evaporated. And also recently, there was a leaked recording of their leader, Benny Gantz, caught saying that he wasn't entirely against an alliance with Netanyahu's Likud party. And it is important to note here that even though Blue and White is the main opposition party, they don't exactly represent the left in Netanyahu's right.

But ultimately that is where we are. As we wait for these elections in just a few days, there's a lot that could happen. And after the election, even if Netanyahu remains in power, he could be faced with a criminal trial if the indictment holds up, which could lead to just a very, very crazy situation. But with all of that said, for now we wait.

And that brings us, of course, to the part of the video where I pass the question off to you. What are your thoughts on this? And of course, I love everyone's opinion, but I definitely, I'm really fascinated by the people involved or slightly connected. Right, if you live in Israel or the United States, older, younger, always fascinated by the differences

in opinion and viewpoint inside of a group. You know, some of the questions, do you think Netanyahu should remain as prime minister or no, he should resign? Do you think that we will see a different government or will Netanyahu form a government, become Israel's longest serving prime minister in the coming months?

And really, just what the hell do you think is gonna happen? But that's where we're gonna end this one and it's kind of perfect timing because I think I'm just about to lose my voice. Remember if you watch this video, you're one of the four people that made it to the extra end of the video where you know I'm already doing my outro. Be sure to let us know, hit that like button. Also, if you're new here, be sure to subscribe, ring that bell to turn on notifications. And of course as always, thanks for watching. I hope you have a fantastic day, and I'll see you later today right here on this channel with a brand new Philip DeFranco show.