Netanyahu trial hearing day 33 ends an hour early in Tel Aviv District Court

“I’m sitting here for eight years on a trial that has dragged the country into round and round of elections, which no one around the globe understands, by the way,” said Netanyahu.

“Any instructions came from the bottom up, they were never issued from my people down to the news. That would be a corruption of the press,” he added.

Chen concluded his arguments via what Netanyahu said on Tuesday: “I received no requests at all for favors, there was no dialogue like that of any sort.”

The prime minister added what he has said in the past, that any conversations he had with Elovich were of him trying to convince the media giant that Walla has the potential to be great, but that Elovich’s own limitations prevented this.

“Why didn’t you carry out a proper investigation?” Netanyahu charged the police and prosecution in the courtroom on Tuesday. 

Chen continued his line of questioning on Tuesday that portrays outstandingly favorable treatment by former Walla-CEO turned-state’s-witness Ilan Yeshua towards former prime minister Naftali Bennett. 

What this does for Chen, is attempt to shatter the premise that there was preferential treatment granted to Netanyahu under the instruction of Walla’s upper management - by showing that this kind of treatment was also routinely offered to other politicians. 

Chen showed communications of a similar nature between Yeshua and other Walla staffers, and political rivals Avigdor Liberman and Moshe Kahlon.

Outside the courthouse, protesters chanted, “Qatari money, October 7 are Netanyahu's massacres,” and “Blood is on Netanyahu's hands.” 

Netanyahu will be probed today by Jack Chen, the attorney for Shaul and Iris Elovich. Next week, he will be questioned by the lawyer representing Arnon “Noni” Mozes, charged as well. 

The attorneys of the Elovich couple and Mozes are questioning Netanyahu - the primary defendant - on behalf of their clients, in two of the three cases levied against the prime minister. In Case 4000, the “Walla-Bezeq Affair,” Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly promising to advance regulatory changes beneficial to the Elovich’s business interests, in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site, which Shaul owned along with communications conglomerate Bezeq. This case holds the weightiest charge of the three - bribery - as well as fraud and breach-of-trust. Elovich and his wife were charged with bribery, which is what Elovich's attorney, Jack Chen, is attempting to disprove. 

In Case 2000, the “Netanyahu-Mozes Affair,” the relationship between the prime minister and the owner of Yediot Aharonot is under scrutiny. Allegedly, Mozes offered a bribe to Netanyahu: positive coverage of him and his family in the prominent daily and negative coverage of political opponents, in exchange for the advancement of legislation that would force restrictions on rival Yediot tabloid daily Israel Hayom. Netanyahu was charged with fraud and breach-of-trust in Case 2000, while Mozes was charged with attempted bribery.

This will be the last day that Chen will question him. The questioning is part of the defense section of the trial, before it transitions to cross examination by the prosecution. 

Netanyahu requested at the start of the hearing to finish it an hour early today, at 3 p.m.

Chen continued his line of questioning on Tuesday that portrays outstandingly favorable treatment by former Walla-CEO turned-state’s-witness Ilan Yeshua towards former prime minister Naftali Bennett. 

What this does for Chen is attempt to shatter the premise that there was preferential treatment granted to Netanyahu under the instruction of Walla’s upper management - by showing that this kind of treatment was also routinely offered to other politicians. 

Netanyahu reiterated on Tuesday that he viewed Walla as a left-wing, hostile news outlet, highlighting his purported lack of interest in anything concerning its coverage of him. 

Netanyahu noted that this treatment extended to standard press release announcements, where, according to him, his spokesmen got either no response or hostile ones. This, Chen showed, was in contrast to the treatment given to other politicians.