The hearing in the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu resumed on Tuesday after it was canceled on Monday, with prosecutors continuing their cross-examination in Case 4000.
At the start of the Tuesday hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court, Netanyahu asked for a half-hour break at 11 a.m. so that he could virtually join a hospital readiness drill in the face of a large-scale missile attack in the North.
The request came amid heightened security tensions in the North. Earlier Tuesday, the IDF reported that several Hezbollah operatives had been killed in recent strikes in southern Lebanon, which the military said targeted attempts to reestablish Hezbollah infrastructure and constituted violations of the understandings between Israel and Lebanon.
Presiding judges agree to PM Netanyahu's request
Presiding Judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham agreed to the request.
In Case 4000, Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust over an alleged quid pro quo relationship with Shaul and Iris Elovitch, whereby regulatory benefits to Bezeq were allegedly exchanged for favorable and interventionist coverage on Walla.
Netanyahu has denied the charges, arguing that the regulatory decisions were professional and that media coverage - even if positive - does not constitute a criminal bribe.
The bulk of the hearing focused on prosecutors’ efforts to demonstrate Netanyahu’s alleged direct involvement in shaping coverage on the Walla news site while serving as communications minister. Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh continued laying out a series of coverage-related demands at Walla that, according to the prosecution, involved Netanyahu directly.
Tirosh referenced a July 2015 incident in which a Walla article by journalist Avi Issacharoff on a diplomatic freeze between Israel and the Palestinian Authority was allegedly downgraded, following Netanyahu’s direct contact with Elovitch.
According to the prosecution, Netanyahu placed an early-morning call to Elovitch, after which internal discussions at Walla began regarding reducing the article’s prominence and adding a strong denial attributed to the Prime Minister’s Office.
Netanyahu rejected the characterization, saying the coverage was negative and that his outreach constituted a “typical and natural” response. He argued that even a marginal item could spread to other outlets, justifying contact with Walla despite its limited importance.
Tirosh then presented another incident cited in the indictment involving coverage of a lawsuit filed in 2016 by Guy Eliyahu, a former employee of the Prime Minister’s Residence, who alleged abusive treatment and improper working conditions under Sara Netanyahu.
Prosecutors argue that Netanyahu sought to undermine the credibility of the claim by portraying the lawsuit as financially motivated, and demanded that Walla publish an article framing it as an attempt to cover personal debts. According to the prosecution, the request was conveyed from Netanyahu to Elovitch, passed on to then-Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua, and ultimately reflected in the published article.
Netanyahu said he did not recall the specific conversation, noting that it took place a decade earlier and that he conducts dozens of calls daily. “I remember conversations with world leaders and fateful decisions,” he said, adding that the article had independent news value.
Tirosh challenged Netanyahu with his own prior courtroom remarks, in which he referred to an emerging “industry” of lawsuits by Prime Minister’s Residence employees seeking financial gain, arguing that the Walla article mirrored his stated views.
Netanyahu acknowledged holding that view in general but said he could not recall the specific case. He accused prosecutors of isolating a single article out of thousands, calling the indictment a “poisoned tree” built around a single “leaf.”
The prime minister was indicted in 2020 on the charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three cases: 1000, 2000, and 4000. The proceedings are expected to continue on Wednesday.