Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pushed back on Tuesday against key prosecution claims in Case 4000, insisting he did not instruct Walla or other media outlets on how to cover his wife, Sara Netanyahu.
Case 4000, considered the most serious of the three cases against the prime minister, alleges that Netanyahu provided significant regulatory benefits to Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch in exchange for favorable coverage on the Walla news site. The defense argues that political outreach to media organizations is a standard component of public life and that the alleged quid pro quo lacks the elements required to constitute bribery.
The prosecution has anchored part of its argument in testimonies from state witnesses, including former Netanyahu adviser Nir Hefetz and businessman Arnon Milchan, who described sustained involvement by the prime minister and his wife in shaping their own public image. Netanyahu denied that account, stating his engagement with the media was limited and diminished further over the years.
The prime minister resumed his cross-examination on Tuesday, confronting a series of detailed claims about the extent of his involvement in media requests made on behalf of his wife. He rejected the depiction offered by state witnesses, describing their accounts as overstated and inconsistent with his own conduct during the years in question.
Netanyahu said that his conversations with prominent media figures, including the late Sheldon Adelson, who was the owner of Israel Hayom, focused on broader editorial direction rather than specific coverage. “The principle was to counter the daily pressure being placed on the public,” he said, distancing himself from allegations that he engaged in routine coordination of headlines or stories.
The prosecution, relying on the testimony of Hefetz and others, maintains that Netanyahu was kept updated on requests sent to Walla regarding photos, phrasing, and placement of stories about his family. The prime minister told the court that he neither initiated nor supervised such exchanges and that many of the communications attributed to him were either relayed without his knowledge or exaggerated in hindsight.
'The trial of someone who is damaging the Zionist project'
Tuesday’s hearing also drew attention in the courtroom as three former General Staff Reconnaissance Unit soldiers attended the session. Their visit generated brief political ripples after they clarified to Walla that their presence should not be read as support for the prime minister. “We came to observe the trial of someone who is damaging the Zionist project,” they told the outlet.
Netanyahu requested that his daily testimony hours be shortened due to what he described as the demands of leading the government. The judges approved reducing the session’s length from six-and-a-half hours to four.
The trial will resume on Wednesday, with further cross-examination expected to focus on the nature of Netanyahu’s communications with senior media executives and their connection to the regulatory decisions under review.