Walla! Communications Ltd. ( he, וואלה! תקשורת בע"מ) is an Israeli internet company headquartered in
Tel Aviv
Tel Aviv-Yafo ( he, תֵּל־אָבִיב-יָפוֹ, translit=Tēl-ʾĀvīv-Yāfō ; ar, تَلّ أَبِيب – يَافَا, translit=Tall ʾAbīb-Yāfā, links=no), often referred to as just Tel Aviv, is the most populous city in the G ...
and is fully owned by
The Jerusalem Post
''The Jerusalem Post'' is a broadsheet newspaper based in Jerusalem, founded in 1932 during the British Mandate of Palestine by Gershon Agron as ''The Palestine Post''. In 1950, it changed its name to ''The Jerusalem Post''. In 2004, the paper w ...
. Until 2020, it was fully owned by
Bezeq
Bezeq ( he, בזק) is an Israeli telecommunications company. Bezeq and its subsidiaries offer a range of telecom services, including fixed-line, mobile telephony, high-speed Internet, transmission, and pay TV (via Yes).
History
Bezeq was foun ...
. Walla!'s
web portal
A web portal is a specially designed website that brings information from diverse sources, like emails, online forums and search engines, together in a uniform way. Usually, each information source gets its dedicated area on the page for displayin ...
provides news, search (powered by
Google Search
Google Search (also known simply as Google) is a search engine provided by Google. Handling more than 3.5 billion searches per day, it has a 92% share of the global search engine market. It is also the most-visited website in the world.
The ...
) and e-mail, among other things. It is also one of the first Israeli internet portals, and is considered one of the most popular web sites in the country. ,
Alexa
Alexa may refer to: Technology
*Amazon Alexa, a virtual assistant developed by Amazon
* Alexa Internet, a defunct website ranking and traffic analysis service
* Arri Alexa, a digital motion picture camera
People
*Alexa (name), a given name and ...
rankings put it in the top 9 sites by
traffic
Traffic comprises pedestrians, vehicles, ridden or herded animals, trains, and other conveyances that use public ways (roads) for travel and transportation.
Traffic laws govern and regulate traffic, while rules of the road include traffic ...
originating in Israel. Its online news outlet
Walla! News
Walla! Communications Ltd. ( he, וואלה! תקשורת בע"מ) is an Israeli internet company headquartered in Tel Aviv and is fully owned by The Jerusalem Post. Until 2020, it was fully owned by Bezeq. Walla!'s web portal provides news, sea ...
is one of the major Israeli news websites.
The outlet has been accused of biased media reporting in favour of former Prime Minister
Benjamin Netanyahu
Benjamin "Bibi" Netanyahu (; ; born 21 October 1949) is an Israeli politician who served as the ninth prime minister of Israel from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021. He is currently serving as Leader of the Opposition and Chairman of ...
. Employees of the company have been summoned as witnesses in Case 4000, one of the corruption trials involving Netanyahu.
History
The portal was founded by Erez Pilosof and Gadi Hadar in 1995 as Israel's first online website directory, and soon afterwards acquired by "Mashov Computers Marketing", a member of The Mashov Group headed by Yaki Dunietz and David Assia. In 1998, the company, traded on the
Tel Aviv Stock Exchange
The Tel Aviv Stock Exchange (TASE; ; colloquially known as The Bursa, ) is Israel's only public stock exchange and a public company that has been traded on the Tel-Aviv Stock Exchange since August 1, 2019. Legally, the exchange is regulated by ...
, changed its name to "Walla! Communications Ltd". In the same year, the company was acquired by
Formula Systems
Formula Systems () is a publicly traded holding company headquartered in Or Yehuda, Israel. Through its subsidiaries it operates mainly in the area of information technology. Shares of Formula Systems are traded on the NASDAQ, NASDAQ Global Selec ...
, headed by
Dan Goldstein
Dan Goldstein (19 June 1954 – 9 June 2022) was a pioneer of the Israeli software industry. He was the founder of Formula Systems, sold in 2006, and ''Formula Vision Technologies''. Goldstein served as Chairman of the Public Companies Associat ...
, and in 2001 it merged with IOL, a similar site run by the Haaretz Group.
Services
Most news stories that appear in Walla! came from the Haaretz Group, news agencies and other content providers. However, during the year 2006, Walla! started building an independent news and editorial staff, which produces original news stories and special features. In addition, Walla! produces original content in various fields such as sports, cinema, music, fashion and food. The website offers many programs and services, a search engine, E-mail, online shops, chats, and video on demand.
Controversy over ties to Netanyahu family
In December 2020, Bezeq owner
Shaul Elovitch
Shaul Elovitch (; born 1948) is an Israeli businessman and the owner of Eurocom Group, one of the largest private holding groups in Israel.
Background
Shaul Elovitch was born in 1948 in Poland and made aliyah to Israel when he was two years old ...
, his son and former Bezeq director Or Elovitch; former secretary Linor Yochelman, the former CEO of Yes, Bezeq's satellite TV subsidiary, Ron Eilon and former Yes CFO Mickey Naiman were indicted on charges of fraud, breach of trust, receiving illicit gifts and violations of the Securities Law. A substantial portion of the charges also concerned Walla! 's alleged favoritism towards Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Former Bezeq CEO Stella Handler wasn't indicted after agreeing to cooperate with prosecutors. On April 5, 2021, former Walla! CEO
Ilan Yeshua Ilan Yeshua is the former chief executive officer (CEO) of Walla! Communications Channels Ltd. (from November 2006 to June 2019), an Israeli web portal, traded on the Tel Aviv Stock Exchange.
He is a former chief executive officer (CEO) of both Enc ...
testified that Shaul Elovitch ordered him to not report negative stories about Netanyahu. Yashua also testified that Shaul ordered him to also attack Netanyahu's political rivals and post stories favorable about the Israeli Prime Minister as well. On April 12, 2021, Yeshua told the Jerusalem District Court that Netanyahu was the "big guy" who persuaded ''Walla!'' to publish only parts of an interview he conducted with journalist Dov Gilhar a week before the March 2021 Israeli election and that "any negative item led to outburst" from the Israeli Prime Minister. Yeshua also revealed a February 2015 text message which Shaul Elovitch sent to him in February 2015. In the text message, Elovitch stated that he had a problematic meeting with Netanyahu, whom he referred to as "the big one".
On April 20, 2021, Yeshua detailed more instances where Netanyahu showed authority over the editorials at ''Walla!'', such as telling Elovitch to take down a news story which appeared on ''Walla!'' about a romantic relationship between Netanyahu's son Yair and a non-Jewish Norwegian woman and also his requests for using the news site as a way to spread attacks on
Naftali Bennett
Naftali Bennett ( he, נַפְתָּלִי בֶּנֶט, Transliterated: , ; born 25 March 1972) is an Israeli politician who served as the 13th prime minister of Israel from 13 June 2021 to 30 June 2022, and as the 3rd Alternate Prime Minist ...
and his wife Gilat. On May 4, 2021, Yeshua stated that the Israeli Prime Minister also got Walla! to remove stories about "bereaved" families of Israeli soldiers who were killed during the 2014 Gaza War and whose remains were still held by the
Hamas
Hamas (, ; , ; an acronym of , "Islamic Resistance Movement") is a Palestinian Sunni-Islamic fundamentalist, militant, and nationalist organization. It has a social service wing, Dawah, and a military wing, the Izz ad-Din al-Qassam Bri ...
.Netanyahu's lawyers begin cross-examining key witness in premier's graft trial Times of Israel, May 4, 2021 One notable family was the family of Hadar Goldin, an IDF soldier whose remains have been held by the Hamas in Gaza since the 2016 war. He did not clarify who told the editors to erase these stories. However, he also noted how the Prime Minister's wife
Sara Netanyahu
Sara Netanyahu ( he, שרה נתניהו; ''née'' Ben-Artzi; born 5 November 1958) is the wife of former Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu. By profession, she is an educational and career psychologist.Byzantine court", was used to carry out Sara's "crazy requests and angles."