The criminal trial testimony hearing of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu began as scheduled on Monday morning but was cut short ahead of the release of hostage Edan Alexander and other developing diplomatic matters.
His testimony ended at 11:15 a.m. The trial is still in the stage of defense questioning before cross-examination, where Netanyahu is being questioned by the defense lawyers of other defendants listed in the indictment.
At the start of the hearing, lead defense attorney Amit Hadad requested, citing weighty diplomatic happenings, including the visit of Steve Witkoff, Trump’s special envoy to the Middle East, to Israel, that the hearing be cut short.
Another reason given was that Netanyahu “slept only one-and-a-half hours last night” due to the developments.
These defense hearings will take place for approximately another two weeks and are part of the defense’s questioning stage. After it ends, the prosecution will begin its own cross-examination of Netanyahu.
The attorneys for Shaul and Iris Elovich and Arnon “Noni” Mozes will question Netanyahu – the primary defendant – on behalf of their clients, in two of the three cases levied against the prime minister.
What are the cases against Netanyahu?
In Case 4000, or the “Walla-Bezeq Affair,” Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly promising to advance regulatory changes beneficial to the Elovich couple’s business interests in exchange for positive coverage on the Walla news site.
Elovich owned both the communication conglomerate Bezeq as well as the Walla news site. This case holds the weightiest charge of the three, bribery, as well as the charges of fraud and breach of trust. Elovich and his wife were charged with bribery.
In Case 2000, or the “Netanyahu-Mozes Affair,” the relationship between the prime minister and the owner of Yediot Aharonot is under scrutiny.
Mozes allegedly offered a bribe to Netanyahu: Positive coverage of him and his family in Mozes’ prominent daily news and negative coverage of Netanyahu’s 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.
The prime minister was questioned on Monday by Jack Chen, the Elovichs’ lead defense attorney.
Asked by Chen if he had any expectations from Elovich when it came to coverage in Walla, Netanyahu said, “There is absolutely no proof of this. There was no telepathic exchange [between Elovich and I].”
“Elovich and I never discussed this. I never expected anything of him. I didn’t ask for anything. I didn’t even think about it,” the prime minister continued.
He added, “Like I’ve said this whole time – there is nothing here.”
Chen asked, “You saw Elovich as a right-wing figure, but Walla as a negligible news site. Even so, you thought that the way to make it more varied was to change up the staff. However, you testified that from your perspective, Elovich didn’t make any such changes; you called him fearful and weak.”
Netanyahu has repeatedly said in the past that one of his ambitions was to diversify the Israeli media landscape.
The prime minister told Chen in response, “Elovich could have done it, he could have changed how Walla managed its coverage” but he didn’t.
In fact, when Elovich had such an opportunity with a more right-wing commentator, he swapped him out with left-wing ones, Netanyahu added. He later said that there were whispers that Elovich secretly supported Netanyahu’s diplomatic policies, yet didn’t change the slant of the site.
“We called it ‘Walla Hamas,’ ‘Walla Iran,’ and ‘Walla Akbar,’” said Netanyahu, portraying how hostile the site allegedly was toward him.
He added that at no point did conversations take place between him and Elovich regarding his own personal interests, not even during one conversation that took place at a funeral in 2011.
Chen presented a call log from the Prime Minister’s Office showing outgoing calls from Netanyahu to Elovich. “This clearly shows that Shaul never asked me for anything,” said Netanyahu.
He even said to compare this to his call logs to the late Sheldon Adelson, the owner of Israel Hayom, which leans more to the Right.
Chen later presented call logs from 2012 to 2017 of calls between Netanyahu and then-editor-in-chief of Israel Hayom Amos Regev, to show that their relationship was more intense, and to downplay the one Netanyahu had with Elovich.
“I had way more calls with Adelson,” said Netanyahu.
He also said that his relationship with Elovich grew stronger in 2015, an election year, “as it did with all the news CEOs.”
However, the prime minister said, the relationship deteriorated rapidly after that.Asked why that happened, Netanyahu said that he tried to explain to Elovich that the sensationalized content Walla was putting out was not of any real interest.
According to the prime minister, he told Elovich that he had an opportunity to turn the news outlet into a real powerhouse instead. Nevertheless, per Netanyahu, Elovich did the exact opposite, repelling the suggestions Netanyahu had made.