
After nearly five years of legal proceedings, Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu took the stand on Tuesday for the first time in Israeli history, testifying in his own criminal trial on corruption charges. This marks the first occasion that a sitting Israeli prime minister has appeared in court as a defendant.
The atmosphere both inside and outside the courtroom was charged with tension, as Netanyahu’s supporters and critics engaged in loud exchanges. A large media contingent was present, capturing the unprecedented moment of an Israeli prime minister facing questions from judges regarding his alleged criminal conduct.
Netanyahu appeared animated as he responded to questions from his defense team, eager to discuss his achievements as prime minister, his resilience under pressure, and his stance on fostering a free market of opinions in the media—an essential part of two of the cases against him.
One of the accusations against Netanyahu centers on alleged gifts of cigars and champagne. In his defense, he emphasized his hard work and modest lifestyle. “I work 17-18 hours a day. I eat my lunch at my desk. Waiters in white gloves don’t serve me meals. I work around the clock, into the small hours. I usually go to sleep at around 1 or 2 in the morning and have almost no time to see family or children,” Netanyahu said. “Now and then, I sin with a cigar, which I can’t smoke at length because I’m always in meetings and briefings… By the way, I loathe champagne; I simply don’t like it and I can’t drink it.”
“To depict [my wife] Sara and me as living the good life, isn’t merely absurd, not merely a distortion, it’s shameful and disgraceful.”
Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, accused Israeli police investigators of pursuing the prime minister rather than investigating a crime. “They did not investigate a crime, they investigated a man. Our claim is that they not only went after a man and not a crime, but also that when they didn’t find a crime, they invented a crime.” Hadad drew a comparison to Stalin’s Soviet Union, quoting the famous line: “Give me the man, and I will give you the case against him.”
For security reasons, the hearings are being held in an underground court room in the Tel-Aviv Jaffa District Court, as the Yerushalayim District Court lacked the necessary security arrangements. Throughout the day, the prime minister was interrupted several times by aides delivering urgent information, and he was occasionally granted leave from the courtroom to address pressing matters.
Despite efforts by senior Israeli ministers to postpone his testimony, arguing that the removal of Syria’s Assad regime was overwhelming the prime minister during a time of war, Netanyahu proceeded with his appearance in court.
Supporters from Netanyahu’s Likud party, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana and ministers such as Shlomo Karhi, Irit Silman, Miri Regev, and Itamar Ben Gvir, came to the courthouse to show solidarity. Some supporters, including Tali Gotliv, remained throughout the day, frequently challenging the prosecution with loud interruptions. However, many other prominent Likud figures chose not to attend.
Outside the court, two groups of protesters—each with around 100 participants—demonstrated on opposite sides of the entrance. Police worked to keep the opposing sides separated as their chants clashed.
During his approximately five-hour testimony, Netanyahu focused on undermining key aspects of the prosecution’s case, particularly in Case 4000, the most serious of the charges against him. This case involves accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Netanyahu is alleged to have made regulatory decisions that benefited Bezeq telecommunications magnate Shaul Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels, in exchange for positive media coverage from the Walla news site, which Elovitch also owned.
In his testimony, Netanyahu and his attorney, Hadad, worked to portray their relationship with Elovitch as minimal, claiming that even after a 2012 dinner with Elovitch and his wife, the prime minister did not receive better coverage from Walla.
The prime minister denied recalling signing off on an authorization in 2012 to grant Elovitch ownership of Bezeq, explaining that during his time in office, he had signed “thousands” of similar documents without reading them. “If a minister approved it, I would almost always sign off,” Netanyahu explained.
Hadad also pointed to a 2010 authorization signed by Netanyahu that benefited Elovitch, arguing that it occurred long before any alleged agreement between the two men.
Netanyahu also defended his communications with the media, stating that it was common for politicians to seek changes in media coverage. He likened his actions to those of American Founding Fathers Thomas Jefferson and Alexander Hamilton, who, he said, used the media to advance their political goals.
During his testimony, Netanyahu stressed that his efforts to influence media coverage were part of a larger goal to promote diversity in Israeli media, which he described as overly dominated by left-wing perspectives.
“We’re in a battle for public opinion. Not only in Israel, but worldwide,” he stated. “You cannot defend or anchor a military victory without a diplomatic victory; you need to win over public opinion. [Left-wing] Ha’aretz’s [publisher] Amos Schocken won’t change, and nor will the others. So either buy new media outlets or set up others. What’s important is that there is diversity [of media].”
“I thought, either they’ll bring investors from here or overseas, or buy existing media outlets and change them. I didn’t act in this way in order to glorify myself but because I wanted public support for my positions,” Netanyahu testified. “I wanted them to give support to the policies that I want. What’s the point of having authority? What for? To sit on a chair? There are more comfortable chairs in the world. You come to influence policy.”
Netanyahu said that when questioned by police, he was astonished by the accusation that such efforts to diversify media outlets could be seen as criminal. “I was astonished when they asked me in the [police] investigations, I said, ‘Are you serious? What are you talking about? This is in the indictment? The most basic democratic thing? The obligation to diversify different markets? That is seen as criminal?’”
The prime minister recalled his first encounter with Elovitch in 1996 or 1997, during his first term as prime minister, and again in 2002 while serving as finance minister. He insisted that their relationship was not close, and that they only saw each other occasionally during the years that followed.
“The important point is that all this case is based on this ridiculous assertion that there was some kind of telepathy [between Netanyahu and Elovitch] about an agreement which never happened,” Netanyahu concluded. “You also saw what terrible coverage I got [from Walla]. The claim is that I got special treatment. You asked me if there was a change in Walla’s treatment of me after the dinner; there was no change before or after.”
Addressing his concerns about the media landscape in Israel, Netanyahu emphasized his desire to create a more diverse press. “Until recently, Israel had very monolithic media. We don’t want to take control of the media; we want to diversify the media,” he explained.
“The most important thing is to add more TV stations which aren’t controlled by one camp; that’s what is essential. That is the agenda I went with. I said ‘We need investors for diversity [in the press].’ Either for them to buy existing platforms or create new ones,” Netanyahu added, noting that he had discussed his concerns with potential investors.
Netanyahu is scheduled to continue his testimony every Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday for the next few weeks, with court sessions running until the end of December. Each session will begin at 10 a.m. and conclude at 4 p.m., with a break for lunch.
His defense attorneys will continue questioning Netanyahu for several days, allowing him to present his defense in detail. Afterward, prosecutors will have the opportunity to cross-examine him, likely extending for the majority of the time he spends on the stand.
Should pressing matters arise requiring the prime minister’s attention, the court has indicated it will consider breaks to allow him to address them.
Given the ongoing war and turbulent events in the Middle East, interruptions to the trial proceedings are expected. For example, the court has already rescheduled Wednesday’s hearing to begin at 2:30 p.m. to accommodate Netanyahu’s attendance at the Knesset for the visit of Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña.
Netanyahu faces charges in three corruption cases. In Case 1000 and Case 2000, he faces accusations of fraud and breach of trust, and in Case 4000, he faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
Case 1000 involves allegations that Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, accepted illicit gifts from Hollywood mogul Arnon Milchan worth approximately NIS 700,000. In return, Netanyahu allegedly helped Milchan with his U.S. residency visa and tax matters.
Case 2000 centers on claims that Netanyahu attempted to strike a deal with Arnon (Noni) Mozes, publisher of the Yediot Achronot newspaper, in exchange for favorable media coverage in return for legislation that would weaken the rival Yisroel Hayom newspaper.
The most serious charge, Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, accuses Netanyahu of making regulatory decisions that benefited Elovitch, the Bezeq telecommunications giant’s majority shareholder, by hundreds of millions of shekels, in exchange for positive media coverage from the Walla website, which Elovitch owned.
Netanyahu has consistently denied all allegations, calling the charges politically motivated and part of a conspiracy by the police and prosecutors.
At a press conference on Monday night, Netanyahu accused police investigators and prosecutors of fabricating crimes. “They didn’t find a crime, so they concocted a crime…. They arrest dozens of people around me, they ruin their lives, they extort them with threats so they’ll give false testimony… isolation, sleep deprivation. Everything so that they give false testimony,” he charged. “Everything goes,” Netanyahu said, “in the effort to bring down Bibi.”
{Matzav.com Israel}