"I am willing to go to a lie detector": Eitan Cabel testifies in Case 2000

Former MK Eitan Cabel testifies in Case 2000, describing how he initiated a law to limit the distribution of "Israel Hayom", while receiving comments from Noni Mozes. Cabel denies it was a bribe and insists the initiative was independent, despite the denial of the committee's legal advisor who drafted the law.

Former MK Eitan Cabel is testifying this week in Case 2000, as part of the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. In his testimony, which began on Sunday and continued this morning (Tuesday), Cabel described how he initiated the "Bill for the Promotion and Protection of the Printed Press in Israel" in 2014, which aimed to require payment for a widely circulated daily newspaper – a move intended to harm the free model of "Israel Hayom". Cabel said he received "suggestions and ideas regarding the wording of the law" from "Yedioth Ahronoth" publisher Noni Mozes, but insisted the initiative was his own. According to him, when "Israel Hayom" staff offered him favorable coverage in exchange for dropping the bill, he did not see it as a bribe. Cabel testified that the then-legal advisor of the Economics Committee, Etti Bender, drafted the bill – a claim she denies. In response to the denial, Cabel said: "I am willing to go to a lie detector. I spoke the truth." Case 2000 deals with contacts to limit the distribution of "Israel Hayom" and is one of three cases in the Netanyahu trial. Cabel was questioned under caution in the affair but the case against him was closed.