Police Admit to Wiretapping Netanyahu Associate Without Prosecutor's Approval

During the trial proceedings involving Benjamin Netanyahu, a former senior police officer, Shmuel Sharvit, testified that Natan Eshel, the former head of the Prime Minister's office and a close associate, was wiretapped for approximately one month. Sharvit stated that the surveillance was halted by order of the leadership, and he understood the reason to be the lack of approval from the Attorney General. Netanyahu's defense team claims the police used the wiretapping of Eshel to gather evidence against the Prime Minister himself. Defense attorney Amit Hadad presented documents in court indicating Eshel maintained contact with a "main suspect," which the defense argued referred to Netanyahu. Sharvit did not directly confirm this, but when asked if Eshel's conversations with Netanyahu could have been intercepted, he responded, "Possibly." The officer also testified that if an operative realized the target was speaking with a Knesset member, the wiretapping of that conversation would cease. Sharvit explained that he received an order from his then-commander, Koresh Barnur, to dismantle the listening post after a month, with Barnur stating, "There are problems, remove it." Sharvit reiterated that he understood these "problems" to stem from the absence of Attorney General approval. The defense views this testimony as support for their argument that the police conducted investigative actions against Netanyahu through his associate without the necessary authorization. However, the article notes that the lack of approval does not automatically render the surveillance illegal, and the question of whether the operation against Eshel constituted direct investigative action against Netanyahu remains a point of legal contention.