State Attorney to File Charges Against Netanyahu's Advisers - Over Filber Harassment

May 9, 2024   

5 years after the case was opened: State Attorney Amit Isman intends to file an indictment against Yonatan Urich and Ofer Golan - the prime minister's advisors - on suspicion of harassing state witness Shlomo Filber, five years after the case was opened. According to a report by Avishai Greenzig today (Wednesday) on Kan News, Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben Ari supports filing the indictment, while accompanying attorney Haim Wismonsky believes the case should be closed. Because of this, Isman has referred the case to an additional opinion by Nissim Merom, a senior attorney at the Tel Aviv District Attorney's Office. According to the suspicion, in August 2019, as part of their duties at the Likud election headquarters, the prime minister's advisors allegedly planned to harass Shlomo Filber, the former director general of the Ministry of Communications, and acted to send a car with a loudspeaker in front of his house, on which the following recording was played: "Momo, be a man, come out and tell the truth, Momo Filber, what did they do to you for lying against the prime minister?" "What did they promise you, Momo? The left is using you to bring down the Likud. Momo, hear for yourself what you said before the police pressured you." A video of the incident was even distributed on social media. The proceedings in the investigation of the incident focused on the allegations of the illegality of the searches of the mobile phones of the consultants who were questioned, as well as on the question of the consequences of this illegality with regard to the police's requests to issue late search warrants for the suspects' mobile phones. Ultimately, the Supreme Court allowed the searches of their mobile phones.