Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu left on Wednesday in the middle of his criminal trial testimony hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court to meet with Steve Witkoff, the Trump administration’s Middle East envoy, amid the rumored breakthrough in talks on the Gaza ceasefire and hostage deal.
At the start of the hearing, Netanyahu’s defense team asked to hold a long recess at noon to make time for his conversation with Witkoff.
The prime minister was questioned on Tuesday as part of the main defense portion of his trial, which will then move to the cross-examination part by the prosecution.
Over the next few hearings, Netanyahu will be questioned by the lead defense attorneys of other defendants listed in the indictment.
The attorneys for Shaul and Iris Elovich and Arnon “Noni” Mozes are currently questioning Netanyahu – the primary defendant – on behalf of their clients, in two of the three cases levied against the prime minister.
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 (Shaul and Iris) 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 fraud and breach of trust. Elovich and his wife were charged with bribery.
Case 2000
In Case 2000, or 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 himself and his family in the prominent daily 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 Tuesday by Jack Chen, the Elovichs’ lead defense attorney. Throughout the questioning, the prosecution sparred heavily with Chen over his style of questioning, claiming that he was leading in his questions.
Asked by Chen if he had a “bribery-type” of relationship with Elovich, Netanyahu said he had nothing of the sort, nor with any other news CEOs.
In a confrontation with former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua initiated by the police in 2018, Iris Elovich exposed for the first time that Sara Netanyahu had demanded of Walla to change its coverage.
In answer to the question posed to her by an interrogator, Iris said at the time that she adhered to no such demand, nor was she “afraid of any consequences,” per the police transcripts.
Netanyahu said on Tuesday that the text of this confrontation was never presented to him in his own police interrogations.
“Not only was it not presented to me, it was purposefully withheld,” he charged.
The prime minister added that he was unaware of his wife’s actions. “My wife put in a request, one that I didn’t even know about, that was wholly rejected [by Iris]. This only goes to show that Walla was not a ‘household name’ for us, which completely collapses the indictment’s thesis,” he added.
ADDRESSING THE larger bribery claim, Netanyahu said, “I never used my position of power to advance anything related to my position or the interests of my friends.”
He added, “I’m not here to serve myself, I’m here to serve the public, and I have tried, repeatedly and over time, to minimize the power granted to me in my position – not expand it.”
Taking a jab at the indictment itself, he added, “Before hurling this at me, they [the prosecution] could have checked the facts: Walla was not an influential site, and it was not of any interest to me to change or influence its coverage.
“My interest in Walla was not about coverage at all; it was the wasted potential that I saw in it. It could have been a powerhouse. That’s what I told Elovich, and I knew that he understood and believed it, too. It had nothing ever to do with anything that I could gain out of it, and it was miles and miles away from bribery,” the prime minister said.
Netanyahu noted that what the indictment referred to as “special requests” on coverage were regular public relations announcements that went out by spokespeople to every outlet, as is the standard practice.
Chen’s position as Elovich’s defense lead is to undermine the bribery attempt charges.
Netanyahu said that standard, run-of-the-mill conversations like these regarding coverage happened with news CEOs all the time, as well as with politicians. According to him, there was nothing out of the ordinary with these discussions, certainly not bribery.
He added that he did contact Yediot in a professional setting about news that was published, but that it was never in the context of a personal tie, and that conversations like these were standard with other publications as well.
“The real threat is that of a monolith – whether in media or in politics. My interest and drive were always to have variety,” Netanyahu said.
He denied issuing any instructions to then-Communications Ministry director-general, Shlomo Filber, to make regulatory changes that would be favorable to Elovich.
The prime minister also described his impression of Elovich as a person: A right-wing man who was afraid to say so out loud.
“Shaul wasn’t afraid of me, but it was clear that he chose the path of least resistance in everything,” said Netanyahu.