Israel: Ex-PM Benjamin Netanyahu takes a dig at free-to-air broadcasters; See pic

Taking a dig at Israeli broadcasters Channel 12 and 13, former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared a cartoon that showcased them feeding garbage in viewers’ minds. The graphic which he widely shared on Instagram, Facebook and Twitter-portrayed the free-to-air television channels as spreading false propaganda against the zionist leader. Notably, the social media post came as he appeared for his ongoing corruption trial at a Jerusalem court.

“The propaganda channels 12 and 13 continue tonight with false propaganda against us and of course tonight they censored our response,” Netanyahu wrote alongside the post accusing the TV channels of using his case to gain viewership. “Not by chance their ratings are dropping and the viewers move to Channel 20 and to the right-wing media,” the 72-year-old added further substantive his point. We went on to accuse Channel 12 and 13 of obstructing the legal proceedings.

What are the cases against Netanyahu?

The trial against Netanyahu is one of the biggest in the country’s history. The right-winger has been accused of accepting bribes, fraud and breach of trust in three discreet cases. The first case (Case 1000), according to Associated Press, involves the Likud leader accepting opulent gifts from his wealthy friends namely businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer. A discreet report by BBC estimates the value of the goods received by Netanyahu and his wife as roughly 700,000 shekels ($198,000; £162,000).

The second case (Case 2000) involves the ex-Prime Minister promising the passage of certain legislation to an Israeli businessman Arnon Mozes - who is the controlling shareholder of Yedioth Ahronoth media group, which publishes a leading Israeli newspaper. If passed, the law could have limited the circulation of Israel Hayom, a free daily published in Hebrew.  = According to multiple reports, Netanyahu was promised positive coverage in the Mozes’ owned newspaper but the aforementioned law never got Knesset’s vote. According to the lawsuit, Mozes and Netanyahu conducted three series of meetings between 2008 and 2014.

The third case (Case 4000) entails the 72-year-old of what prosecutors have labelled as “reciprocal favours” between Netanyahu and Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israeli telecom giant Bezeq. During his tenure, Netanyahu passed million-dollar legislation in his favour in return for positive coverage on Bezeq affiliated news website Walla.

Image: Benjamin Netanyahu/Instagram