At his trial, Netanyahu lashes out at law enforcement, says police sought to oust him

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused law enforcement bodies of being behind leaks of testimonies given to police years earlier by key figures in his ongoing corruption trial, saying they were an effort to swing national elections against him.

Netanyahu made the claim Wednesday during a trial hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court.

Netanyahu, who has been in power since 2009 except for an 18-month period, has in recent weeks stepped up accusations that there is a “deep state” running the country that is out to thwart him, echoing political rhetoric from the US.

The testimonies in question were leaked to various Hebrew media outlets over the course of several weeks in 2019. At the time, Netanyahu’s Likud party unsuccessfully sought to prevent the publication of the leaks, asserting that they were intended to harm the party’s chances in the September 2019 elections.

Questioned about the leaks by his attorney, Amit Hadad, Netanyahu asserted that “100% of the leaked material from the investigation came from law enforcement.”

“There is no other explanation,” he said, adding that the leaks hurt him “immensely” and were intended to make him look like “a criminal who accepted bribes.”

Going on the attack, the premier asserted that the leaks were part of a wider effort by law enforcement — chiefly the Israel Police and the State Attorney’s Office — to “trample on democracy” and “influence the elections.”

“When 100% of the investigative material is in their hands, and then they pretend that they didn’t leak it, it’s a pile of lies,” he insisted.

“There was a serious, clear and well-timed intervention of leaks, most of which are false and selective, with the aim of influencing the democratic process, in the run-up to an election,” Netanyahu asserted, claiming there is “an active political player” who wanted to influence elections.

“The leaks served a clear political purpose. It was clear to me that there was a huge campaign here,” he said.

A short while later, Netanyahu was prompted into another anti-police tirade when asked by Hadad about his former chief of staff Ari Harow, who turned state’s witness in the premier’s corruption trial as part of a plea bargain.

“The police want to overthrow a prime minister. There is no crime, so they invent a crime, take the people closest to him, and tell them to find something on him,” Netanyahu fumed.

“The police and the state attorney can say, ‘we don’t like the prime minister, we want to replace him, so we’ll take the people closest to him.’ This is a crime on steroids, and it happens again and again and again,” he declared.

Asked by Hadad if he trusts law enforcement, Netanyahu declared that he feels as though he lives in “East Germany or Tehran.”

“They are corrupting the investigation, and making false accusations against me,” he said, reiterating: “They are all making false accusations and are trying to hunt me down.”

“What is this? What kind of dark regime do we have here? It’s monstrous,” he added.

The day’s proceedings ended shortly after that, the court having accepted the prime minister’s request to cut proceedings short because he had returned on an overnight flight following a whirlwind visit to both Washington and Budapest, heading straight to the courthouse from the airport.

At the start of the hearing, Hadad told the court that the premier was “very tired” as he hadn’t slept the previous night, and said he didn’t think it was “in the court’s interest for a person to testify bleary-eyed.”

Justice Rivka Friedman-Feldman said that the court will “see what the situation is” as the day goes on, but ultimately approved the early end to proceedings.

Monday’s hearings were canceled due to the Washington trip. The court refused, however, to cancel a second hearing planned for Wednesday, and ordered the defense to put another defense witness on the stand on Monday. It ruled that Netanyahu would have to make up the canceled hearing later this month.

Netanyahu began giving testimony in his trial on corruption charges on December 10, 2024, but has repeatedly requested that hearings be canceled due to the responsibilities of his position, illness and other scheduling issues.

Though Netanyahu is on trial at the Jerusalem District Court, hearings of his testimony have been held at the Tel Aviv court as the building in the capital does not have a bomb shelter.

He is on trial in three corruption cases, and faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000. The trial began in 2020 and is expected to run well into 2026, if not beyond that. If convicted, Netanyahu would have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court.