Journalists’ Group Calls on Yediot Publisher to Step Aside

Binyamin Netanyahu is not the only individual to walk away from the years-long investigation into corruption surrounding him with the recommendation for an indictment by State Attorney Avichai Mandelblit. Among Mandelblit’s other “victims” is Yediot Acharonot publisher Arnon Mozes. Mozes is currently the active publisher of the paper – and on Friday, the Israel Journalists Association recommended that he take a break until his legal woes were worked out.

In a statement, the Association called on Mozes to “allow the professional staff of the newspaper to take over its operations, and that would include coverage of the cases that Mozes is involved in. The Association is shocked at the harm that could ensue to journalism based on the indictment issued against the prime minister, who has attacked the media repeatedly. We condemn any attempt to sway coverage of news stories in exchange for favors or any other attempts to corrupt the journalistic process.”

Mozes is implicated in Case 2000, an alleged deal in which the Yediot Acharonot publisher offered the prime minister better coverage in his newspaper in return for help in passing legislation against his newspaper’s competition, Yisrael Hayom. Mozes is charged with trying to bribe Netanyahu.

In a statement, Mozes’s attorneys said that “Mozes did not offer Netanyahu any favors, and the coverage in the newspaper in those days proves this. We believe that a court will acquit him.”