In a dramatic turn at the Tel Aviv District Court on Tuesday morning, Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu took the stand for cross-examination in his long-running corruption trial—nearly five years after it first began. The prosecution wasted no time, working to cast doubt on Netanyahu’s reliability and attacking the consistency of his testimony.
Prosecutor Yehonatan Tadmor of the State Attorney’s Office opened the session by focusing on Case 1000, in which Netanyahu is accused of accepting lavish gifts—including cigars, champagne, and jewelry—from billionaires Arnon Milchan and James Packer. According to the indictment, Netanyahu allegedly returned the favors by helping Milchan with U.S. visa issues and other business interests, including media mergers.
From the outset, Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman reminded the prime minister of his obligation to answer truthfully. Over the course of the session, Netanyahu’s attorneys frequently objected to the line of questioning, prompting recesses during which Netanyahu briefly exited the courtroom as the judges conferred.
Tadmor delved into Netanyahu’s initial police questioning in 2016, pressing him on whether he had been aware in advance that the investigation centered on gifts from wealthy associates. Netanyahu said he had some recollection of that and insisted, “I don’t do favors for businessmen.”
He was then asked about a list compiled by his legal team of ten wealthy individuals—Milchan and Packer among them—in preparation for his questioning. Netanyahu responded, “I don’t remember,” and suggested that the entire investigation stemmed from a politically motivated article by journalist Gidi Weitz. “It’s persecution,” he said bluntly.
The prosecutor attempted to portray Netanyahu’s repeated memory lapses as strategic. Tadmor highlighted that the prime minister said “I don’t remember” a staggering 1,778 times during his police interrogations in Cases 1000 and 2000, often leaning on that phrase more as the sessions progressed. “You said ‘I don’t remember’ when it suited you,” Tadmor asserted.
Netanyahu pushed back, arguing that no one could recall every minor detail from years past. “Some meetings stand out more than others,” he said. At one point, Judge Friedman-Feldman interjected, asking directly if he had used memory lapses as a tactic to avoid answering. “No,” he replied.
The prosecutor then attempted to dismantle Netanyahu’s narrative that his relationship with Milchan was purely personal and devoid of political interest. Recounting a 1996 meeting between Netanyahu and Milchan in New York—arranged while Netanyahu was staying at a hotel with his wife Sara—Tadmor presented a story meant to illustrate the transactional nature of the relationship.
Sara Netanyahu, according to Milchan’s past testimony, asked him to bring a stuffed Bugs Bunny doll for their son Yair. Milchan reportedly arrived with a small one, only to be told it wasn’t large enough. “He ran through the streets of New York in the rain to find a bigger one,” Tadmor said.
Milchan’s 2023 testimony was read aloud: “I didn’t have a driver, it was raining, but I got a pretty big Bugs Bunny, very big… I stood there with the Bugs Bunny… eventually I made it to the hotel… Sara said it was okay… then we had dinner.”
Tadmor challenged Netanyahu over the oddity of making such a request of someone he had just met. Netanyahu claimed he didn’t recall any movie being changed and said he had no knowledge of the Bugs Bunny episode. He then quipped, “Sounds like something out of ‘Who Killed Roger Rabbit.’”
Pressing further, Tadmor demanded that Netanyahu admit Milchan had a strong desire to meet him, to which Netanyahu shrugged, “Many people wanted to meet with me.”
The prosecution later turned to Netanyahu’s political career after his 1999 electoral defeat. Tadmor suggested Netanyahu had always planned a return to politics, citing a passage from his own 2022 autobiography that stated he had “no doubt” he could make a comeback and that he “remained a major force in Israeli politics.” Netanyahu countered, saying at the time he genuinely believed he was finished: “I was a political corpse.”
The ongoing trial centers around three major cases. In Case 2000, Netanyahu is accused of negotiating a deal with publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes for more favorable coverage from the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper in return for legislation that would harm rival publication Israel Hayom.
The most serious, Case 4000, revolves around allegations that Netanyahu advanced regulatory decisions favoring Bezeq’s controlling shareholder, Shaul Elovitch, to the tune of hundreds of millions of shekels. In exchange, Netanyahu allegedly received positive coverage from the Walla news site, which Elovitch also owned.
With the prosecution still in its early stages of cross-examination—a process expected to last roughly a year due to scheduling complexities and Netanyahu’s governmental obligations—the courtroom battle is only beginning to unfold.
That’s if the Zionist pseudo-State lasts that long.
How can the ones playing Bibi Netanyahu be consistent with the testimony. How many “Bibi Netanyahu” actors are there? Quite a few obviously; different looks, different sizes and heights. You have to be a fool not to notice they’re not the original Netanyahu.
Interesting how judges are never accused in taking bribes when they’re the ones who take the most bribes.