Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s cross-examination in the so-called “thousands cases” resumed Wednesday morning at the Tel Aviv District Court, with a repeat questioning session to be conducted by an attorney for Noni Mozes, publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth. At the start of the hearing, a brown envelope was brought to Netanyahu, and he asked to make a phone call at 11:45, citing “developments.” He said he did not know how long the call would take, and the judges agreed to the interruption.
The previous day, Netanyahu entered the judges’ chambers with his lawyers after an earlier request to shorten the hearing had been rejected. The judges later accepted his request to cut short his testimony for “security and diplomatic reasons.” The hearing also came after remarks by U.S. President Donald Trump, who sharply criticized Netanyahu over his handling of Hezbollah in Lebanon. Following those remarks, another brown envelope was brought to Netanyahu in the courtroom and he requested a brief break.
During Tuesday’s hearing, Netanyahu raised his voice at prosecutor Yehonatan Tadmor, accusing the prosecution of using spyware and mounting what he described as an effort to bring down a prime minister. “You did what you never did to any public figure, and you used spyware, that is what you did in the campaign to topple a prime minister,” he said. “The pretense that you did not deploy nets to catch [people], you broke every law.”
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman ordered him to be quiet, and Netanyahu banged on the table, saying, “I am allowed to speak!” He then added, “Everyone says this is a police state! Stasi! Political persecution!” Netanyahu also argued that the indictment was filed at a moment when he was on the lawn outside, claiming the timing could not have been accidental and that the prosecution was acting politically. He alleged there had been “hundreds” of criminal leaks from the investigations, said each leak carries a possible three-year prison sentence, and accused the investigators of not seeking justice.
