Israeli News Publisher Caught Promising Bibi Better Coverage

By Daniel J. Solomon March 24, 2017

Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, was taped promising to bash Benjamin Netanuyahu’s political rivals in the paper in exchange for a business advantage, in the latest twist of a police anti-corruption probe into the Israeli prime minister.

According to Haaretz, Mozes pledged to attack Economy Minister Naftali Bennett and his Jewish Home party, uneasy partners with Likud in the reigning coalition, if Bibi would push a bill that would limit the circulation of Israel Hayom, a Sheldon Adelson-funded free newspaper that has eaten away at the profits of Yedioth Ahronoth.

Bennett has previously called out bias in the broadsheet’s coverage of him, writing that the newspaper is “firing a bullet of falsehood at my head,” and pointing out “a media offensive on the Jewish Home in general, and on me in particular.”

Police are investigating Netanyahu and Mozes for alleged collusion. Police are also investigating Netanyahu for taking illegal gifts like champagne and cigars, worth hundreds of thousands of shekels, from business leaders.

Contact Daniel J. Solomon at [email protected] or on Twitter @DanielJSolomon

Daniel J. Solomon is the former Assistant to the Editor/News Writer at the Forward. Originally from Queens, he attended Harvard as an undergraduate, where he wrote his senior thesis on French-Jewish intellectual history. He is excited to have returned to New York after his time in Massachusetts. Daniel’s passions include folk music, cycling, and pointed argument.

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