Tel Aviv - One of Israel's biggest newspaper-owners was charged yesterday with attempting to assassinate a state's witness, in a case that has deepened public mistrust of the media and sent tremors through the Israeli police force, writes David Horowitz.
Mr Ofer Nimrodi, publisher of the Ma'ariv tabloid, Israel's second most popular daily, was indicted for attempting to arrange the assassination of a key witness in an earlier case against him in which he was convicted of ordering phone-taps at the offices of the top-selling Yediot Ahronot - and for attempting to buy off senior police officers and derail their investigation into his activities. Reported suspicions that he plotted to murder two rival newspaper owners, however, were not on the charge sheet. Mr Nimrodi denies the charges.
The case has already led to the sacking of two police investigators, could mean a premature end to the careers of several other top officers, and yesterday even extended to the office of the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak. Mr Nimrodi, it emerged, met Mr Barak three months ago, seeking to have his earlier conviction wiped from his record. But Mr Barak reportedly told the newspaper-owner that his office did not deal with such issues.