Ben-Zaken, born in 1967, was known by the defendant as a teenager, in light of the fact that Ben-Zaken's mother worked for the insurance agency, some of which he purchased from Ephraim Gur. When the defendant's energy business developed to great proportions, the defendant left the insurance agency, and Ben-Zaken, together with his mother, became the agency's managers. At the same time, Ben-Zaken was also employed as Ephraim Gur's parliamentary assistant. The friendly relationship with Ben-Zaken led the defendant to various partnerships with him, mainly in the field of real estate (partnerships initiated by Ben-Zaken), where starting in the early 2000s, the two purchased a large number of properties throughout the country. At a certain point, and with legal support, the two decided to operate within the legal framework of a public company, and thus a Manofim company was established that dealt with commercial real estate. In his testimony, the defendant described that he had invested about $60 million in the company, in parallel with his continued business activity abroad, and for public volunteer activities that he promoted and financed (such as the "Management" association that distributed scholarships to students, while as a condition for receiving the scholarships, those students helped distribute hot meals to the elderly throughout Ashdod, or helped teenagers in Ashdod who had difficulty in their studies.
On the acquaintance between the defendant and Ben-Eliezer
- The defendant knew Ben-Eliezer, but not personally, in view of Ben-Eliezer's public duties, and his participation, along with other public figures, in events held by the "Management" association.
In 2008, the personal acquaintance was created, with Ben-Zaken's mediation, when Ben-Eliezer, who served at the time as Minister of National Infrastructures (and in charge of the energy market in Israel), summoned the defendant to his office. At the same meeting, Ben-Eliezer told the defendant about the State of Israel's need to find gas sources, the fear of reliance on Egypt's gas reserves, the various efforts he made in this regard as part of his official position, and his desire to help him organize a meeting with the chairman of the board of directors of Gazprom, which was described as the largest gas company in the world and operated in the CIS countries. Another similar request made by Ben-Eliezer concerned the organization of a meeting for the same reasons with officials from the Soker gas company that operated in Azerbaijan.