Posted on 11/30/21
| News Source: Arutz-7
State witness Nir Hefetz, a former adviser to former premier Benjamin Netanyahu, took the witness stand on Tuesday in the Jerusalem District Court.
After the hearing on Case 2000 concluded for the day, Hefetz asked that his interrogation in Case 4000 be held behind closed doors.
For its part, the prosecution asked that segments of the hearings dealing with “interrogation exercises” they used on Hefetz be held behind closed doors. Hefetz responded, “When this information comes out, it’s going to make a huge noise. I want the trial to be as open and transparent as possible, but behind closed doors. There’s a limit to what a person can endure.”
He added that "draconian" means had been used against him during his interrogation, "out of all proportion to the matters on which I was being questioned."
The judge rejected both requests, noting that procedures were usually only held behind closed doors if there was a likelihood that the witness' privacy would be infringed upon.
During the hearing on Case 2000, Hefetz was asked to describe the relationship between Netanyahu, his former boss, and Noni Mozes, publisher of Yediot Aharonot, during the period of concern.
“He [Netanyahu] was convinced that Mozes was behind Yair Lapid and others,” Hefetz said. “I heard him say on a number of occasions that Mozes was trying to overthrow him.
“When I tried to disagree with him on this, and suggest that Mozes wasn’t nearly as influential as he thought, he dismissed the notion out of hand,” Hefetz continued. “Even if it concerned a news item that Ben Caspit wrote in Maariv, where he worked for 30 years, he [Netanyahu] was sure that Mozes was behind it. Anything significant that happened he attributed to Noni Mozes.”