His testimony was heard in court, at a hearing on November 29, 2022. The witness, 33, was asked about the nature of the relationship between him and the defendant, and replied "like two children behave", "sitting together, going out together, spending time together" (pp. 587, paras. 32 and 30, respectively). When asked to address his anger, during the interrogation and the confrontation, and the defendant's (primary) version, according to which the witness was present at the event and took part in the acts, the defense attorney sought to emphasize that this was a version given under pressure and under the influence of alcohol, and that the defendant retracted it, and no longer claims the witness's presence at the scene (the defendant, also confirmed this in court, at p. 594, para. 10). In his cross-examination, he again ruled out a dispute between him and the defendant, as well as between the defendant and the deceased (in this context, he denied that Ben had shown him the text messages he had received from the defendant). He also answered in the negative, to the question of whether he had noticed that Ben had used drugs during their night out, hours before the incident, against the background of the findings of the blood tests on his body.
- The cousin of the defendant and the deceased, Eliran Sarahsher, P.A.14 - his statement was submitted to the police, dated March 29, 2021 (P/36); the transcript of the interrogation (P/36A); and the CD documenting it (P/36B).
According to the witness, the night before the incident, he, his brother Daniel and the deceased's son went out to hang out, from midnight until 5:00 a.m., when they dropped the deceased off at the grandmother's house and continued to their home. He also said that his mother called his brother Daniel's phone in the morning, while they were sleeping, asking them to come to the grandmother's house, and they did. The witness said that he had no connection to the defendant, while his relationship with the deceased was good, and they also worked together. He denied knowledge of a dispute between the defendant and the deceased - at the time of the incident and in the past (paras. 63, 65).