Netanyahu Accuses Prosecutors of Misleading Him During Retrial Testimony

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused the prosecution in his trial of presenting him with a false picture and trapping him during his testimony, as the retrial phase began at the Tel Aviv District Court. During this stage, his lawyer, Amit Haddad, is questioning him with follow-up and clarification questions.

Netanyahu said the prosecutors and investigators caused him to give contradictory answers during cross-examination. “They set a trap for me, and I fell into it,” he said, adding, “They present me with a false picture, they mislead me here and cause me to give two answers to the court.” He also said, “For the sake of fairness and justice, I do not understand this.”

The prime minister pointed to two examples that he says were misleading. First, he said he was shown a supposed meeting with former Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Noni Mozes, a meeting he said never took place, and that merely being shown it led him to admit it happened. Second, he said he was told that the weekend edition of Israel Hayom had been printed in only a limited number of copies, while in fact, according to the prosecution, 85,000 copies were printed. Haddad also said the edition’s cover stated it was printed in 100,000 copies.

A prosecution lawyer, Gilad, objected to the way Netanyahu and Haddad described the issue, saying, “No misleading information was presented.” Netanyahu responded, “I enjoy the word games, they simply lied here brazenly.” The exchange came as what Israeli media described as a major courtroom drama unfolded in the criminal case.