The Israel Police questioned Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Tuesday as part of an ongoing investigation into a string of corruption allegations.
Tuesday's questioning was believed to concern what has been dubbed "Case 4,000," which involves allegations of interest peddling in the Bezeq telecommunications corporation.
In addition to serving as prime minister, Netanyahu also held the government communications portfolio until last year. Two of his close confidants have been arrested on suspicion of promoting regulation worth millions of dollars to Bezeq. In return, Bezeq's subsidiary news site, Walla, allegedly provided positive coverage of Netanyahu and his wife, Sara. The confidants have turned state witnesses.
The police said Netanyahu was questioned "for a number of hours," but did not elaborate and declined further comment.
Police have yet to make a recommendation on whether charges should be filed in the case.
A spokesman for Netanyahu said "nothing new was presented to the prime minister today" by investigators probing Case 4,000. The spokesman said in a statement that Netanyahu "never made any deal" with the owner of Walla for favorable coverage.
The statement further offered evidence disproving the allegations of positive media coverage, saying that "on the contrary, through the years, Prime Minister Netanyahu was consistently covered in a hostile manner on the Walla news site. The negative coverage peaked on the eve of the 2015 elections, when a deluge of hateful articles tried to sway the public to vote against him. That is precisely the time frame that the allegations contend he made the supposed illicit deal with Bezeq."
Authorities have questioned Netanyahu on a number of occasions in recent months.
Police have recommended indicting Netanyahu on corruption charges in two other cases, but the final decision on an indictment rests with Attorney General Avichai Mendelblit and could take months.
Netanyahu has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing, dismissing the accusations as a media witch hunt.
