Netanyahu Trial Pauses Amid Heated Exchange Between Defense and Prosecution

The trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in Jerusalem's District Court was halted Monday following a sharp exchange between Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Haddad, and prosecutor Judith Tirosh. The confrontation occurred during the second day of the cross-examination of former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit. Haddad accused Mandelblit of being kept in the dark about information gathered during the investigation, claiming that actions to collect materials related to Netanyahu were taken without his approval and that crucial information was deliberately concealed from him. Mandelblit stated he was unaware of the actions described by Haddad and responded to the accusation of searching for materials against the Prime Minister without his knowledge by saying, "If that was done, it is serious." However, he expressed surprise at the claim of intentional concealment by the prosecution, stating, "The prosecution was my long arm. I would be very surprised if that is true. I have full confidence in the prosecution, including the people sitting here." The cross-examination focused on actions taken during a 2017 investigation that led to Case 4000. Haddad questioned what materials were collected before Mandelblit authorized an investigation into suspicions concerning Netanyahu. He also referenced a Haaretz article from October 2015 by Gidi Weitz, which alleged a connection between the coverage of Netanyahu on the Walla! website and regulatory benefits. Mandelblit acknowledged hearing about the article and that it was a catalyst for launching the investigation, though he did not recall reading it. He clarified that a conflict of interest arrangement for Netanyahu was not based on the article but on information from legal advisors about a close friendship between the Prime Minister and Shaul Elovitch. Haddad further inquired if Mandelblit knew a Securities Authority investigator had printed the article and collected related Walla! articles in July 2017, to which Mandelblit replied he did not and had not authorized the printing. Haddad also alleged that two documents were falsely marked as produced in November 2017, when they were actually created earlier, before the necessary investigation authorization. Tirosh objected to Haddad's line of questioning, dismissing the claim of false marking and arguing that since Mandelblit was unaware of the article collection and production, questions about their marking were irrelevant to his testimony. Haddad told Mandelblit, "I think they set a trap for you, there are things that were not revealed to you." Mandelblit reiterated his stance, "I am not aware of a situation where things were hidden from me. It could be, but I am not yet convinced of that." The argument escalated when Tirosh protested Haddad's accusations, stating, "The prosecution is not the defendant here." Haddad responded, "I understand the distress, someone is sitting here for whom this is the case of her life." Tirosh retorted, "My life is my family. We are all lawyers doing our job. We are not the defendants here." The presiding judge, Rivka Friedman Feldman, stopped the proceedings and summoned the lawyers to her chambers. Earlier, Mandelblit had complained about remarks directed at him upon entering the courthouse, and the judge reminded the audience that questioning witnesses within the courtroom is prohibited.