Ben-Zaken testified to a relationship characterized by mutual assistance to each other, not necessarily in matters relevant to Ben-Eliezer.
This is what he testified:
"...I can tell you that Ayelet helped us countless times with all kinds of people who contacted me, whether it was in helping with housing, welfare, those who were evicted from their homes, those who had debts in one or another authorities, and when I had no way to help them, the only way was to call Ayelet and see if she could solve the problem, and there were dozens of such cases over the years that she really did everything she could and in many cases she was also able to help. To all kinds of people who have approached and I am not talking about the business world at all, I am talking about completely different things" (Prov. p. 940, 16).
These testimonies regarding the nature of the relationship were not concealed, and were even corroborated by external evidence, such as the correspondence exchanged between Ben-Zaken and Azoulay (the collection - P/29), which, in addition to the use of nicknames ("Mami", "Soul", "Handsome") indicate an independent relationship that existed between the two, which was not necessarily related to Ben-Eliezer or the defendant.
It is important to note that this conclusion regarding the independent nature of the relationship is not only consistent with the collection of correspondence exchanged between the two, but is also learned from the prosecution's position in the indictment when it described, in paragraphs 19-20, the improper actions carried out vis-à-vis the members of the Petroleum Council, while attributing these actions to the "Ben-Zaken-Azoulay" axis, actions that led to the conviction of the two.
Moving the venue of the hearing, Nati Simchoni and Yoav Sanans, counsel for the defendant, emphasized in their summaries that "Ben-Zaken's appeals to Azoulay were not made in order for her to mediate between him and the late Ben-Eliezer, since Ben-Zaken had a direct relationship with the late Ben-Eliezer, and in any case, over the years, the personal and friendly relationship that was forged between Ben-Zaken and Azoulay was much stronger than that which he had with the late Ben-Eliezer (paragraph 135 of the summaries of the defense of the references included therein).