Did the publisher of one of Israel's three main daily newspapers plot the murder of his two leading rivals, the publishers of the country's two other major dailies?
Judges yesterday lifted a ban on reporting the astonishing "Nimrodi affair", which centres on the allegation that Mr Ofer Nimrodi, the publisher of the Ma'ariv daily, conspired to murder Mr Amos Shocken of Ha'aretz and Mr Arnon Mozes of Yediot Ahronot.
The case is intriguing and horrifying much of Israel, raising doubts about the independence and credibility of its media, casting dark shadows over the police, even threatening to stain the country's political leadership.
Mr Nimrodi, the chubby-faced son of an arms dealer, purchased Ma'ariv in 1992, after the death of the former owner, Robert Maxwell. Desperate to match the sales of Yediot, Israel's most successful daily, Nimrodi hired private investigators to tap the phones at Yediot and eavesdrop on some of its staff. He was convicted last year of ordering the phone-taps, and served four months of an eight-month term.
The conviction was based largely on the testimony of one of the private investigators Mr Nimrodi had used, Mr Ya'acov Tzur, who turned state's witness and so avoided doing time. A second private eye, Mr Rafi Pridan, kept his mouth shut and was jailed for four years. And it is Mr Pridan, still behind bars and smarting about it, who has levelled the latest devastating allegations.
According to Mr Pridan, Mr Nimrodi planned to have Mr Tzur murdered, and an elaborate scheme was hatched to lure Mr Tzur to the Far East where a contract killer was to have been waiting. Mr Tzur, however, never made the trip abroad. Furthermore, Mr Pridan alleges, Mr Nimrodi plotted to have Mr Shocken and Mr Mozes killed, for reasons that have yet to be made clear.
His face all over the front pages of his own and the rival newspapers, Mr Nimrodi emerged from his villa outside Tel Aviv yesterday to pronounce himself "in shock" and to deny Mr Pridan's claims. He was, he insisted, a victim of attempted extortion. "Rafi Pridan told me several times that if I didn't pay him millions he'd tell stories about me that would bury me. . . I didn't capitulate, and this is the result," he said.
If Mr Pridan's allegations prove true, the implications could be profound. Despite the fact that he had only recently emerged from jail, many of Israel's top politicians, including the Prime Minister, Mr Ehud Barak, cosied up to Mr Nimrodi at his wedding earlier this year, fully aware of the power of the daily press.
The police are allegedly highly susceptible to Mr Nimrodi's influence. Two former detectives, and one serving detective, are suspected of having passed Mr Nimrodi information as the investigation of this case progressed.
The Nimrodi, Mozes and Shocken families dominate not only the daily press, but have interests in weekly papers, in radio and in TV here, effectively controlling the current affairs agenda. These days, when Mr Nimrodi is heading that agenda, it's hard for Israelis to know where to turn for credible, genuinely independent information.
Reuters adds: Bethlehem was plagued yesterday by Israeli-Palestinian violence for the third day running.
Tear gas was fired by Israeli troops after an angry crowd, returning from the funeral of a Palestinian shot dead on Monday by a soldier, hurled rocks at Israeli security forces. At least five people were injured. On Tuesday Israeli troops firing rubber-coated metal bullets wounded at least 17 Palestinians.