{"id":136597,"date":"2024-12-13T15:05:55","date_gmt":"2024-12-13T08:05:55","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136597"},"modified":"2024-12-13T15:05:55","modified_gmt":"2024-12-13T08:05:55","slug":"the-bibi-files-with-leaked-netanyahu-footage-cant-be-seen-in-israel-israelis-are-finding-ways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136597","title":{"rendered":"\u2018The Bibi Files,\u2019 with leaked Netanyahu footage, can&#8217;t be seen in Israel. Israelis are finding ways"},"content":{"rendered":"<p> <script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<\/p>\n<div>\n<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Veteran documentarian Alex Gibney, who in a decades-long career has tackled <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/opioids-crime-entertainment-health-coronavirus-pandemic-ef04d379fd727452ad9d97bf9065c211\">many a thorny issue<\/a><\/span>, wasn\u2019t planning a film about Israel \u2014 until one day last year, when a stunning leak fell into his hands.<\/p>\n<p>The leak turned out to be more like a deluge.<\/p>\n<p>Suddenly, Gibney, through a source who contacted him on the Signal messaging app, was being offered access to copious video recordings of police interviews with <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/hub\/benjamin-netanyahu\">Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu<\/a><\/span>, his wife Sara, his son Yair, and a host of associates and benefactors, all conducted as part of the sprawling corruption case against Netanyahu. It amounted to an astonishing 1,000-plus hours of tapes.<\/p>\n<p>The Oscar-winning filmmaker didn\u2019t speak Hebrew, but sensed this was something big. He turned to longtime Israeli investigative reporter Raviv Drucker, who did a deep dive into the material, Gibney says, and showed him that \u201cwe had something that was very explosive.\u201d Then Gibney enlisted colleague Alexis Bloom, who had worked in Israel, to direct.<\/p>\n<p>The result: \u201cThe Bibi Files,\u201d a hard-hitting documentary that certainly has timing on its side \u2014 this week, as it was released on streaming, <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-netanyahu-corruption-trial-gaza-478c957c7749986d5b8b2d039f670d54\">Netanyahu took the stand<\/a><\/span> in the long-running case.<\/p>\n<p>If the timing is fortuitous, the film faced other obstacles. For one thing, Gibney and Bloom had to raise funds without disclosing to potential backers what they had, given the secrecy involved. Many potential backers and distributors were also nervous about getting involved, especially once war broke out after the <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-hamas-war-one-year-anniversary-cf123f95609051e8e8eaf6aebe661b6a\">Hamas-led attack on Israel<\/a><\/span> on Oct. 7, 2023.<\/p>\n<p>Then there was the biggest obstacle of all: The film cannot legally be shown in Israel, due to privacy laws regulating such proceedings.<\/p>\n<p>That doesn\u2019t mean Israelis aren\u2019t seeing it, though. Many have managed to watch the film either by using a VPN to bypass streaming restrictions, or by watching leaked versions that made their way to social media. \u201cThe film is being pirated like wildfire in Israel,\u201d says Bloom.<\/p>\n<p>And it has made a predictable splash, just as Netanyahu becomes the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant. On Tuesday, he promised defiantly to knock down the \u201cabsurd\u201d corruption allegations against him.<\/p>\n<p>The longest-serving prime minister in Israel\u2019s history is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-corruption-netanyahu-gaza-war-scandal-17518bca5b27fc47216eed974e96f3e6\">three separate cases.<\/a><\/span> He is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigars and champagne from <span class=\"LinkEnhancement\"><a class=\"Link AnClick-LinkEnhancement\" data-gtm-enhancement-style=\"LinkEnhancementA\" href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/israel-netanyahu-hollywood-producer-corruption-trial-66bf7a1dadaf12590f8d04fe74415cd8\">a billionaire Hollywood producer<\/a><\/span> in exchange for assistance with personal and business interests, and of promoting advantageous regulations for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage.<\/p>\n<p>In the leaked police videos, the 75-year-old leader sits at his desk in a surprisingly cramped office, a map of the region behind him. He expresses outrage at the proceedings, calls witnesses liars, and notes he has much weightier matters to attend to. At one point, asked about numbers of champagne bottles, he says he spends his time counting missiles threatening Israel, not bottles. Frequently, his answer is he doesn\u2019t remember.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWe have a number of people on the record telling us what a great memory he has,\u201d says Gibney. \u201cAnd almost every question that could be possibly incriminating, he says \u2018I can\u2019t recall.\u2019\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Reviews in Israeli media for \u201cThe Bibi Files\u201d have mostly been positive, while noting that Netanyahu is portrayed in a harsh light. Not surprisingly, public reaction reflects longstanding divisions over the polarizing leader. He and his supporters say he\u2019s the subject of a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and biased justice system out to topple his rule.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cNetanyahu\u2019s opponents will swear by the film and will only become more convinced that he is corrupt, dizzy with power and leading us to destruction,\u201d Nir Wolf, TV critic for the Netanyahu-friendly Israel Hayom paper, wrote. \u201cHis supporters will want to embrace him more.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu has also noticed the film. In September, his lawyer asked the country\u2019s attorney general to investigate Drucker, who is a co-producer with Gibney, accusing him of trying to influence the legal proceedings. No investigation has been launched. (In the film, Drucker notes that Netanyahu has previously sued him three times.)<\/p>\n<p>The film, which intersperses police footage with commentary from former officials, Netanyahu associates, journalists and other analysts \u2014 including, frequently, Drucker \u2014 begins with the prime minister sitting for his first interview.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWith Netanyahu, nothing concentrates his mind more than the sound of the prison gate slammed behind his back,\u201d comments Nimrod Novik, a former adviser to late Prime Minister Shimon Peres. One of Gibney and Bloom\u2019s key arguments will be that Netanyahu\u2019s fear of potential prison time has influenced his policy decisions \u2014 from judicial reform to war.<\/p>\n<p>Netanyahu appears indignant throughout. \u201cYou\u2019re asking me delusional questions,\u201d he tells his questioners. \u201cThis is preposterous and insane.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>In other footage, Arnon Milchan, the billionaire Hollywood mogul, Netanyahu friend and, more recently, prosecution witness, describes delivering fancy pink champagne on demand for Sara Netanyahu, sometimes toting a cooler himself, as part of an alleged gifts-for-favors scheme. Elsewhere, Sara Netanyahu sits for questioning herself. \u201cHow are you not ashamed of yourselves?\u201d she sharply admonishes the interviewers. She tells them that outside Israel, her husband is justly received as a king.<\/p>\n<p>Footage also includes interviews with Israeli-American billionaires Sheldon and Miriam Adelson. Sheldon Adelson expresses discomfort with the friendship \u2014 \u201cI don\u2019t think I\u2019ll continue the relationship with them\u201d \u2014 and dismay over the cost of Netanyahu\u2019s preferred Cuban cigars: $1,100 for a box of 10.<\/p>\n<p>And a combative Yair Netanyahu, the couple\u2019s 33-year old son, tells his questioners: \u201cYou\u2019re investigating me because the Israeli police has become the Stasi secret police, wanting to overthrow the government.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>Director Bloom insists the film is not intended to preach to the choir \u2014 that it is made not for leftist opponents of Netanyahu, but for centrists.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cYou know, a hardcore Bibi-ist is probably going to remain a hardcore Bibi-est,\u201d the director says. \u201cBut there are a lot of centrists. \u2026 And it\u2019s very much a portrait of one family. I don\u2019t think it\u2019s anti-Israel, in the slightest.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The filmmakers say they paused after the Oct. 7 attack, trying to figure out how to approach it. As part of the historical context in the film, they include chilling scenes of the raid on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhat was this going to mean?\u201d Gibney says they wondered. \u201cWith a bit of time, it became clear that this tale that we started before Oct. 7 remained a story of corruption \u2014 the size of the corruption kept getting bigger and bigger and bigger.\u201d<\/p>\n<p>The film, which began streaming Wednesday on the new service Jolt.film, draws a direct connection between Netanyahu\u2019s legal problems and the war. Through various commentators, it argues that the criminal cases led the prime minister to launch a campaign to weaken the country\u2019s judiciary, which in turn sparked mass protests and divisions that created an image of national weakness and led Hamas to attack. (Netanyahu rejects all such accusations).<\/p>\n<p>Bloom says she hopes people will, having watched \u201cThe Bibi Files,\u201d consider the idea that \u201cterm limits are a good idea.\u201d (Netanyahu has served a total of 17 years as prime minister.)<\/p>\n<p>And she also hopes they will take away a simple concept. \u201cIt\u2019s OK to criticize the prime minister of Israel, and it\u2019s not antisemitic and it\u2019s not anti-Israel,\u201d the director says. \u201cHe\u2019s a political leader, like any other. \u201c<\/p>\n<h2>___<\/h2>\n<p>Associated Press writer Tia Goldenberg in Jerusalem contributed to this report.<\/p>\n<\/p><\/div>\n<p><script>\n  window.fbAsyncInit = function() {\n      FB.init({\n              appId : '870613919693099',\n          xfbml : true,\n          version : 'v2.9'\n      });\n  };\n  (function(d, s, id){\n     var js, fjs = d.getElementsByTagName(s)[0];\n     if (d.getElementById(id)) {return;}\n     js = d.createElement(s); js.id = id;\n     js.src = \"https:\/\/connect.facebook.net\/en_US\/sdk.js\";\n     fjs.parentNode.insertBefore(js, fjs);\n   }(document, 'script', 'facebook-jssdk'));\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><script async src=\"https:\/\/pagead2.googlesyndication.com\/pagead\/js\/adsbygoogle.js?client=ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     crossorigin=\"anonymous\"><\/script>\r\n<ins class=\"adsbygoogle\"\r\n     style=\"display:block\"\r\n     data-ad-format=\"fluid\"\r\n     data-ad-layout-key=\"-fb+5w+4e-db+86\"\r\n     data-ad-client=\"ca-pub-3711241968723425\"\r\n     data-ad-slot=\"7910942971\"><\/ins>\r\n<script>\r\n     (adsbygoogle = window.adsbygoogle || []).push({});\r\n<\/script><br \/>\n<br \/><div data-type=\"_mgwidget\" data-widget-id=\"1660802\">\r\n<\/div>\r\n<script>(function(w,q){w[q]=w[q]||[];w[q].push([\"_mgc.load\"])})(window,\"_mgq\");\r\n<\/script>\r\n<br \/>\n<br \/><a href=\"https:\/\/apnews.com\/article\/benjamin-netanyahu-israel-corruption-documentary-afd64fd31e9e3f0d2da11e1ef1acd6d8\">Source link <\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>NEW YORK (AP) \u2014 Veteran documentarian Alex Gibney, who in a decades-long career has tackled many a thorny issue, wasn\u2019t planning a film about Israel \u2014 until one day last &hellip; <a href=\"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/?p=136597\" class=\"more-link\">Read More<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[29],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-136597","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-world","entry"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136597","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=136597"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/136597\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=136597"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=136597"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/hotvideos24.online\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=136597"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}