Netanyahu testimony concludes, to resume on Wednesday

The prosecution and defense dueled at Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Monday corruption trial testimony about a line of questioning about the interrogation of aide turned state witness Shlomo Filber.

Defense attorney Amit Hadad asked Netanyahu if he knew that Filber was threatened and offered leniency in exchange for information about the prime minister, but the prosecution said the leading questions didn't add value to the testimony.

Netanyahu asserted that "discovering the truth, that's the added value." 

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu did not meet with former communications ministry director-general Shlomo Filber to discuss moves to benefit alleged media bribery scheme co-defendant Shaul Elovitch, the Israeli leader claimed during his Monday corruption trial testimony.

Defense attorney Amit Hadad presented Filber's calendar to prove that there had been no meeting in which, the state witness testified in 2022, Netanyahu had ordered him to help Elovitch cope with telecommunications reforms, advance the Bezeq merger, and please Bezeq.

Netanyahu said that the investigators had Filber's diary, but hid it and other documents that supposedly contradicted their theory when they interrogated him. The prime minister said that in interrogations investigators had attempted to trap him.

"It's monstrous what's here. There's an industry of lies," said Netanyahu. This is my life we're talking about. False accusations against me. This is the basis of bribery: A meeting that didn't happen, things that weren't said. The investigators have material evidence that refutes the lie and they're hiding it." 

During his Monday corruption trial, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu criticized investigators for their alleged use of Pegasus spyware against former aide turned state's witness Shlomo Filber.

"If I knew that Pegasus, a program we use against terrorists, was being used over Walla articles, I would have exploded," said Netanyahu. "I didn't know that Pegasus was being used."

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sought 2015 telecommunications reforms to foster marketplace competition, not to benefit alleged media bribery scheme co-defendant and Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch, the Israeli leader explained at his Monday corruption trial testimony.

Netanyahu said that the monopoly that Bezeq held in the Israeli market wasn't acceptable, and impacted innovation and development in the country. The reforms he sought were not to benefit Elovitch, but Israeli democracy.

While former communications ministry director-general Avi Berger testified in 2021 that Netanyahu had fired him after Elovitch threatened him over the pursuit of the reforms, Netanyahu said on Monday that he fired Berger because he wanted to implement the reforms as soon as possible before the elections. Netanyahu said that he didn't fire Berger immediately but after six months of work at the ministry, and because the Israeli leader didn't know if he would continue as prime minister or communications minister he had to act quickly.

Rogue state's witness Shlomo Filber was appointed to communications ministry director-general in 2015 after preferred candidates declined the position, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu claimed at his Monday corruption trial testimony, and not because he was a trusted confidant as claimed in the indictment.

Filber was supposedly Netanyahu's third or fourth choice for the position, an option because of his understanding of monopoly issues facing the Israeli telecommunications market.

Netanyahu said that he hadn't seen Filber in at least a decade, and he was certainly not a confidant, accusing investigators and prosecution of sowing lies.

Filber allegedly worked with Bezeq officials on the Bezeq-YES merger without the knowledge of many ministry officials. The merger, which benefited Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch, is central to Case 4000.

Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman began Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's Monday corruption trial hearing with a list of holiday scheduling issues that needed to be resolved.

On the week of Passover, the judge requested that the Wednesday hearing be canceled, and Netanyahu give testimony on April 14 and 15. The May 26 hearing also needed to be moved to May 27 due to Jerusalem Day. The hearings clashed with Shavuot on June 2, which Friedman-Feldman suggested be replaced with a June 5 hearing. Defense Attorney Amit Haddad explained that Thursdays in general were difficult for the prime minister, leaving the June 5 date uncertain.

Protestors gathered outside the Tel Aviv District Court on Monday ahead of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s sixteenth corruption trial testimony, calling for his removal from office over allegations of ties between the Qatari government and the prime minister’s office.

Protesters called Netanyahu a liar, and a banned urged to “follow the money.”

The regular megaphone-wielding pro-Netanyahu protester stood on the other end of the sidewalk, looking exasperated.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's sixteenth corruption trial testimony began at the Tel Aviv District Courthouse on Monday.