Wiretap Charge Filed Against Editor

The editor of a leading Israeli newspaper was charged Thursday with illegally ordering wiretaps on the paper’s chief competitor.

It was the first indictment of a newspaper official in a scandal involving top editors at Israel’s two mass-circulation dailies.

Maariv editor Ofer Nimrodi was indicted in the Tel Aviv Magistrates Court on charges of ordering wiretaps on the publisher, editor-in-chief and other top officials of the Yediot Ahronot newspaper.

Yediot officials are also suspected of ordering wiretaps on Maariv.