Businessman Roni Mana Denies Role in Abortion-for-Money Scheme

Businessman Roni Mana has responded for the first time to allegations that he was involved in a scheme to pay a woman one million shekels to terminate a pregnancy. The accusations stem from a dispute involving businessman David Azulai and his ex-girlfriend, Shir Helal. Azulai had previously claimed in an interview that a well-known businessman was involved in offering Helal money for an abortion, describing the businessman as a family friend of Helal.

According to journalist Eran Swissa, the businessman in question is Roni Mana, known for his opposition to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Mana addressed the claims via an Instagram story, stating that Azulai, whom he did not know, approached him. Azulai allegedly asked Mana to help him with Helal, his friend, explaining that she was pregnant against his wishes and he wanted to compensate her for an abortion.

Mana recounted that he found the request bizarre and contacted Helal. He asked her what she was doing, advising her against proceeding against Azulai's wishes. Helal reportedly told Mana that Azulai was a liar and that the pregnancy was fully consensual. She showed Mana correspondence indicating Azulai had encouraged her to get pregnant, despite her having experienced a difficult medical event that made future pregnancies uncertain. Mana stated he supported Helal, telling Azulai he had lied to him and that Helal would not have an abortion for any amount of money.

It was Mor Maman who initially revealed Mana's name, according to Swissa's report. Maman allegedly sent a WhatsApp message to Helal and Swissa, stating that Azulai had told Helal she would raise the child alone and offered her one million shekels through Roni Mana for an abortion. This contradicts Azulai's claim that he never offered money for an abortion. Shir Helal reportedly confirmed the details of the report, while David Azulai did not provide a comment.