COOPERATING

Netanyahu’s ‘Spin Doctor’ Agrees to Turn Over Recordings of PM and Wife

Third confidant to Israeli PM has reportedly made a deal in corruption probe.

Benjamin Netanyahu’s “spin doctor” has agreed to cooperate with prosecutors and turn over reported recordings of the Israeli prime minister and his wife to police investigating alleged corruption, Haaretz reports. Nir Hefetz will also testify against the PM and his wife as part of a deal in which he will “not stand trial, face prison time, or be fined” for suspicions that he accepted bribes. Hefetz is the third of Netanyahu’s advisers to turn against him amid the corruption investigation, after former Chief of Staff Ari Harow and former communications minister Sholmo Filber. The cases against Netanyahu involve alleged quid-pro-quo deals with a newspaper publisher, accepting lavish gifts from a businessman, and giving “millions of shekels” in breaks to a telecom company. On Monday, Netanyahu is meeting with President Donald Trump in Washington, D.C. and is expected to attend the annual AIPAC conference.