Ari Harow, former chief of staff at the Prime Minister's Office may turn state's witness in Case 2,000 and is in advanced negotiations with the State Attorney's Office and Israel Police, a legal source said Tuesday. Case 2,000 centers on conversations Netanyahu had with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes, during which they allegedly discussed striking an illicit deal by which Yedioth would soften its aggressive anti-Netanyahu stance in return for the prime minister using his influence to curtail Israel Hayom's activities in ways that would benefit Yedioth financially. Investigators suspect the alleged deal, which never came to fruition, could constitute a bribery offense, but so far they have been unable to establish that as fact. Harow's testimony could potentially strengthen suspicions against Netanyahu. As chief of staff and a confidant of the prime minister, Harow is believed to have been present at some of the meetings between Netanyahu and Mozes, and the police believe he recorded the conversations that led to the investigation. The recordings were obtained by police by chance as they investigated Harow for an unrelated crime: a fictitious deal to sell a consulting firm he owned while he was chief of staff. The investigation into Harow's case ended in February, with the police saying they had evidentiary merit to file bribery, aggravated fraud, breach of trust and money laundering charges against him. If he agrees to turn state's witness, the police will pursue lesser charges against him. Meanwhile, Channel 2 reported that police investigators confronted attorney David Shimron, Netanyahu's lawyer and cousin and a suspect in Case 3,000, which centers on an alleged conflict of interest regarding the 2016 procurement of three German submarines, that he had used Netanyahu's name in conversations with Miki Ganor, who represented the German shipyard ThyssenKrupp in Israel and recently became a state witness in the case. Netanyahu's name was also used in consultation meetings Shimron held. Shimron's use of Netanyahu's name, however, does not mean Netanyahu knew or was connected to the case. The police have reiterated that the prime minister was not a person of interest in the case. Addressing the allegations, Jacob Weinroth, Shimron's attorney, said that "the claims raised are so far from reality it's inconceivable that a state witness gave them to the police. Whenever and wherever Shimron represented Miki Ganor, he acted as his attorney and all his actions were legal." Also on Tuesday, the Rishon Lezion Magistrates' Court issued a comprehensive gag order on the details of Ganor's testimony and the details concerning his state witness deal. The police claimed that "publications in the media multiplied in such a way that they could actually harm the investigation." The gag order will remain in place until Sept. 17, and bars the publication of what moves the police took to convince Ganor to become a state witness.
The restrictions imposed on Ganor, who was placed under house arrest some two weeks ago, will be lifted on Friday. He will still be barred from traveling abroad for 90 days and communicating with the other suspects in the case for 60 days.
