In a tense cross-examination on Sunday at the Jerusalem District Court, Eli Levi, a senior official in the Securities Authority who helped lead the investigation in Case 4000, admitted that he ordered the production of dozens of sensitive emails and documents about Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu without approval from the senior legal chain and without a court order.
Defense attorney Amit Hadad accused Levi of acting outside his authority and violating legal instructions. Hadad pointed to guidance from the attorney general that barred work on Netanyahu and pressed him, asking how he could produce emails after that order and without permission. Levi replied, "I produced them in fact, based on developments in the Philber investigation as part of an expansion of the probe," and later acknowledged that he had acted effectively as the head of the investigation and directed others to gather the materials.
The hearing also focused on pressure allegedly applied to former Netanyahu aide Shlomo Filber. Hadad played recordings in which investigator Yariv Amiaad told Filber, "The price is determined by the content" and that "the equation is not always open." Levi tried to distance himself from any plea deal talk, saying such discussions are routine and that the word "state witness" was not used, but he eventually agreed that Filber’s response should, of course, have been documented.
Levi also denied responsibility for leaks to the press, saying there is no logic in issuing a gag order and then leaking from the other side. At one point he described the collected evidence as a "17-carat colorful diamond," and he could not explain why a story about the Sabena operation, involving Netanyahu, Ehud Barak and Shimon Peres, appeared in the case files. The defense says the testimony supports its claim that investigators and prosecutors improperly built the case retroactively, while the prosecution was repeatedly challenged in court for allegedly misleading the witness.
