The police bent over backwards to hound the people close to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in order to garner the evidence needed for an indictment against him, the prime minister charged at the opening of his Case 1000 trial testimony hearing on Wednesday.
He accused the police, the prosecution, and the attorney-general's office of leaking testimonies of key figures in his corruption trial to the press, resulting in what he said was an “political witch hunt” that tried to “influence the democratic process” which “destroyed” his family and the lives of his close associates.
The testimonies were leaked to several media outlets in 2019, and the defense presented several examples of it on Wednesday.
In February 2019, the Supreme Court rejected a petition by the Likud to postpone the publication of its counsel regarding the recommendation by then-state attorney Shani Nitzan to then-attorney-general Avichai Mandelblit to indict Netanyahu. Mandelblit announced that the same day, he would accept the position and proceed.
On November 21, 2019, Netanyahu was indicted in all three cases (1000, 2000, and 4000), setting the ongoing trial on course. The trial began on May 24, 2020, in the Jerusalem District Court.
In Case 1000, or the “Illegal Gifts Affair,” Netanyahu is on trial for allegedly receiving goods from billionaires Arnon Milchan and James Packer. The prosecution claimed that the goods - boxes of cigars and champagne - placed Netanyahu in a conflict of interests, which manifested when it came to Milchan.
At the hearing on Wednesday, Netanyahu said that when he requested that investigations be opened into the leaks, he didn’t receive a response. “I had hope, at first, that the attorney-general [Mandelblit] would be the final iron wall before the abyss that you stare into when democracy dies… what happened here was the destruction of the judicial system.”
He added that he and his team researched the influence of the leaks and found that voters changed their stances as a result.
Their lives were ruined
“This was a series of rule breaking, mounds of lies that divided the entire country, the public was told by the media that I am corrupt, as are my friends, my family, everyone around me - their lives were ruined,” he said.
He added, “They didn’t just destroy me, they destroyed democracy! It’s unbelievable, and it continues today, it is accepted. People complaining about the destruction of democracy - where are they? Crickets.”
“Except that I keep winning in the elections,” he added.
Lead defense attorney Amit Hadad presented several figures who were affected by the leaks and, according to the defense, cracked under the pressure. These included Mandelblit, top Netanyahu aide turned state's witness Ari Harow, former aide Gil Sheffer, and Nitzan.
Harrow took a plea deal, while Sheffer was plagued by a sexual assault case, which was later dismissed.
The defense presented transcripts of a conversation between a police investigator and Harow, in which he was asked to “give a list of goods now.”
Netanyahu said he had no idea this was happening. “It is a political hunt. They caught him on something and blackmailed him to give them something better - what is this, Tehran? Do we have a morality police now?” he said.
The prime minister arrived at the Tel Aviv District Court immediately from his quick trip to the US, following US President Donald Trump import tariffs raise that has shaken the world - and doesn’t exclude Israel. The Wednesday hearing was cut short.
Several times throughout the testimony, the prosecution objected to Netanyahu’s statements when he described how he felt, arguing that it is out of bounds.
The judges assured them that it would not influence them, and that it is the prime minister’s right to explain how he experienced the events. The debate between the legal teams touched on whether feelings count as facts, questioning the boundaries of what a man on trial can say on the stand.
“He saw what happened to these people. He’s allowed to say how he experienced it - he experienced them as lies against him,” said lead presiding Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman.
The testimony hearings will resume after Passover.
Yonah Jeremy Bob contributed to this report.