Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stepped down from the witness stand on Wednesday after taking the stand on 98 hearing days since his testimony began in December 2024.
Throughout that period, Netanyahu regularly moved between the courthouse, security briefings on the ever-changing local and regional developments, and the Knesset, including amid efforts to stabilize his frayed coalition.
The prosecution completed its cross-examination last week, after 59 hearing days. Netanyahu’s final appearances were part of the defense's limited re-examination stage, intended to clarify issues that arose during cross-examination rather than to reopen the evidence more broadly.
At the start of Wednesday’s hearing, Netanyahu’s attorney Amit Hadad again complained about the limits the court had placed on his questioning. He argued that the restrictions had prevented the defense from fully addressing what it saw as discrepancies between Netanyahu’s testimony and that of other witnesses.
Presiding Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman responded that the defense’s argument had been recorded throughout the proceedings and had not disappeared from the case. Judge Moshe Bar-Am added that no improper impression had been created because the material remained before the court.
Netanyahu testimony now complete, defense continues presenting witnesses
Hadad then returned to Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla affair. He noted that the defense had reviewed 315 coverage items with Netanyahu during his direct testimony, while the prosecution had focused on roughly 14 or 15 items during cross-examination.
Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh objected, saying Netanyahu’s answers had already been clear. The judges allowed him to respond.
Netanyahu said Walla had been “a very hostile website” and argued that the few items cited by the prosecution did not establish favorable coverage or the “unusual responsiveness” alleged in the indictment. He said the prosecution had omitted what he described as thousands of negative articles about him.
With Netanyahu’s own testimony now complete, the defense will continue presenting its remaining witnesses. Those hearings will take place at the Jerusalem District Court; Netanyahu’s testimony alone was moved to a Tel Aviv District Court venue for security reasons.
That will be followed by the summary stage, in which the defense and prosecution will submit their closing arguments before the court eventually issues a verdict. No timetable has been set, and the remaining proceedings could still take years.
Netanyahu’s trial concerns three separate cases; he was indicted in 2020.
In Case 1000, known as the gifts affair, he is accused of fraud and breach of trust over expensive cigars, champagne, and other gifts he received from wealthy friends, including businessman Arnon Milchan. Netanyahu has said the gifts were part of longstanding personal friendships and that he did not advance Milchan’s interests.
Case 2000 centers on recorded conversations between Netanyahu and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon “Noni” Mozes. Prosecutors allege that Mozes offered Netanyahu more favorable coverage in Yediot and Ynet in exchange for steps that could restrict the rival free daily Israel Hayom. Netanyahu is charged with fraud and breach of trust, while Mozes is charged with offering a bribe. Netanyahu has argued that he never intended to act on any proposed arrangement.
Case 4000 concerns allegations that Netanyahu advanced regulatory decisions benefiting Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch while seeking favorable coverage and editorial intervention at the Elovitch-owned Walla news site. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and has rejected the prosecution’s claim that there was an improper exchange between regulatory decisions and media coverage.
'They did not look for a crime, they looked for a person'
At the close of his testimony on Wednesday, Netanyahu delivered a broad denunciation of the investigations and prosecution, saying law enforcement authorities had spent a decade trying to build a case against him rather than examining evidence objectively.
“They did not look for a crime; they looked for a person,” Netanyahu told the judges. “They wanted Netanyahu’s head.”
He said investigators had pursued leads in countries including the Philippines, Mexico, the United States, Europe, and Australia, at what he described as a cost of hundreds of millions of shekels, but had “found nothing, because nothing happened.”
Netanyahu alleged that the investigations had also harmed his associates and their families, accusing authorities of using improper methods to pressure witnesses and locate evidence against him.
“Because they did not find regulatory favors, they invented an offense,” he said, referring to the prosecution’s allegations in Case 4000.
Turning to Case 2000, Netanyahu said he still did not understand the basis of the allegation against him. He argued that he had acted against Mozes’s interests rather than advancing them and said he had been willing to risk his government in opposing legislation that he believed would benefit Mozes.
“To this day, I do not understand what I am charged with in Case 2000,” Netanyahu said. “I understand the fictitious construction in Case 4000, but with Noni Mozes, I do not even understand the construction.”
On Case 1000, Netanyahu reiterated his position that the gifts he received from Milchan were exchanged within a longstanding friendship and did not constitute a conflict of interest. He said he had acted against Milchan’s economic interests and accused prosecutors of trying to turn personal gifts into a criminal breach of trust.
“A breach of trust is extorting witnesses, threatening them,” Netanyahu said. “We are not a police state.”
“After 10 years of hell,” Netanyahu said, “the only thing that can be restored is the truth.”
Hadad then thanked the judges for their patience in conducting the proceedings.