Prosecutors Made More Than 10 Failed Attempts to Question Netanyahu in Classified Documents Probe

Israeli prosecutors tried at least 10 times in less than two months to arrange an open testimony session with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in the classified documents, or “Bild,” affair, but none of the attempts succeeded. After the repeated failures, investigators wrote through his advisers, “We view this conduct as your refusal to give testimony.”

The report follows an earlier Channel 12 disclosure that former Shin Bet chief Ronen Bar said he had updated Netanyahu on the investigation at its earliest stages. According to the new reporting, Netanyahu and his office were informed shortly after the arrest of his former spokesman, Eli Feldstein, while the case was still under a full gag order and confined to a very small circle of officials.

The story also says that Yonatan Urich, one of Netanyahu’s closest aides, allegedly deleted the contents of his phone within 24 hours of Feldstein’s arrest. Urich has said he routinely wipes his phone and did not know about the arrest, but Bar’s testimony is said to contradict that claim because Netanyahu’s office was already aware of it at the time.

Because of these developments, prosecutors sought Netanyahu’s own testimony in February. He is the only person who can clarify whether he informed Urich about Feldstein’s arrest, whether he received a briefing from Bruverman that an investigation had been opened, and whether he knew about the leak of the documents to Bild. The first effort came on February 26, two days before Operation Roar of the Lion began. The prosecution spoke with former adviser Ziv Agmon, who suggested resuming the matter on Sunday, but the war broke out on Saturday.

During the war, prosecutors tried again on March 1 and March 9, then made at least seven more attempts after the war, through advisers by WhatsApp and recorded calls. At some point they concluded Netanyahu was refusing to testify. The report says Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara also approved summoning him for open testimony, but such testimony carries less legal weight than a standard witness statement.