Courtroom Chaos Erupts During Netanyahu Trial Testimony

A heated exchange erupted in the Jerusalem District Court on Monday during the cross-examination of former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Amit Haddad, Netanyahu's lawyer, clashed sharply with prosecutor Judith Tirosh, accusing her and the prosecution of setting a trap for Mandelblit and withholding information from him. Tirosh vehemently denied the accusations, demanding the statements be struck from the record. The confrontation escalated to the point where the judges called a recess to allow the parties to calm down.

The dramatic clash began when Haddad questioned Mandelblit about whether he was aware that in July 2017, Eli Levi, a senior official in the Israel Securities Authority investigation unit, had ordered the retrieval of materials from the email inboxes of Shaul Elovitch and Benjamin Netanyahu without Mandelblit's knowledge. Mandelblit stated he was unaware of this. Tirosh immediately objected, arguing that Levi himself testified he did not inform the prosecution about retrieving the materials, thus refuting the claim that the prosecution had concealed information from Mandelblit.

Haddad responded furiously to Tirosh's remarks, declaring he would not drop the issue and directly accusing her of being part of a scheme to trap the former attorney general. Tirosh, angered by the personal accusation, appealed to the judges to remove Haddad's statement from the protocol. The ensuing commotion and high tension led the judges to suspend the proceedings to allow tempers to cool. Haddad's defense strategy aims to establish that significant investigative actions related to the Prime Minister were conducted behind Mandelblit's back and without his proper approval, while the prosecution rejects any attempt to attribute deliberate concealment of information to them.