TIFF screens ‘The BB Files’ that highlights Netanyahu’s ‘corruption’

Los Angeles: The documentary ‘The BB Files’ was screened at the ongoing edition of the Toronto International Film Festival after a Jerusalem court rejected Israeli PM Benjamin Netanyahu’s plea to stop the screening of the documentary.

The documentary was made by piecing together thousands of hours of leaked footage, including several police interrogations recorded between 2016 and 2018, which led to corruption charges against Netanyahu in November 2019.

The leaked footage has never been released in Israel due to the country’s secrecy laws.

The directors of ‘The BB Files’ – Alexis Bloom and Alex Gibney – were able to obtain the leaked footage from early 2023, much before Hamas’ attack on Israel on October 7.

“When Netanyahu was trying to change the role of the judiciary in Israel, it seemed to me that he was trying to avoid prosecution against himself. So, this was a much bigger matter than the records of the inquest about the trial,” Alex Gibney told France 24.

The Israeli PM’s ongoing corruption trial involves three cases, listed as 1,000, 2,000 and 4,000. Case 1,000 involves alleged bribery and breach of trust over expensive gifts to Netanyahu and his wife in exchange for alleged political favours by Israeli Hollywood billionaire Arnon Milchan and Australian tycoon James Packer.

Case 2,000 involves allegedly negotiating favours for the owner of Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth against a rival newspaper in exchange for favourable coverage.

Case 4,000 also relates to alleged bribery and breach of trust over a “reciprocal deal” for positive media coverage, this time with the then-owner of the popular Walla news site.

Netanyahu has said all the charges against him are baseless and an attempt by his rivals to persecute him and his family. (IANS)