Netanyahu trial hearing erupts in clash between his lawyer and judge

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrived this morning, Tuesday, at the Tel Aviv District Court to continue his testimony in the so-called thousand cases in which he is accused, and during the hearing a confrontation broke out between his defense attorney, Amit Hadad, and the presiding judge, Rebekka Friedman-Feldman. Hadad complained that the prosecution had hidden text from the screen and became angry when the judge asked to continue and did not admonish the prosecution, then turned to her and said, "Madam should come and sit here and be a defense attorney." Friedman-Feldman was furious: "Sir, you are insolent! Sir, show respect, sir, you are insolent and this is not the first time I have said it, sir, sit down now." Immediately afterward, the judge announced a five-minute break in the hearing. When the judges returned to the courtroom, Hadad apologized to Friedman-Feldman. Netanyahu asked this morning to postpone the hearing because of "fatigue," and the judges agreed to delay it by half an hour. The hearing concerns Case 2000, which deals with the relations between Netanyahu and the publisher of Yedioth Ahronoth and the paper's controlling owner, Noni Mozes, and during the hearing a transcript was discussed from a conversation between the two on December 13, 2014. In that conversation, Mozes became angry after realizing that the law intended to restrict Israel Hayom would not be able to pass during an election period. "Noni Mozes had power," Netanyahu said in his testimony, "he is like the leader of the opposition, before elections he can create alliances with his power. I did not know what the election results would be and neither did he, both of us were interested in a softened law, after which it is impossible to know what would have happened."