Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives at the courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court before the start of his testimony in his criminal trial, May 27, 2025. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denies that his wife threw a shoe at a household employee in the prime minister’s residence during testimony in his criminal trial in the Tel Aviv District Court house.
Netanyahu was asked about the alleged incident from 1997 by an attorney for Noni Mozes, the publisher of the Yediot Aharonot newspaper, who is accused of bribery in Case 2000.
The attorney asked the question in relation to Netanyahu’s claim that Yediot was exceptionally hostile to him, even during his first tenure as prime minister in 1996.
“This was deliberate and false character assassination,” responds Netanyahu, according to Hebrew media reports. “It was full of lies and slander. They [the newspaper] were simply taking sides.”
At the beginning of the hearing, Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman, who heads the three-judge panel, said that an extra day of hearings must be added to the schedule in order to speed up the trial, which is now in its fifth year.
Netanyahu said that would be impossible, while his attorney also strongly objected.
Sara Netanyahu, wife of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, arrives for a court hearing in Jerusalem on May 5, 2025. (Chaim Goldberg/Flash90)
Help us report truthfully on social media
As a multimedia journalist, my job is to take the quality, fact-based journalism produced by The Times of Israel newsroom and make it accessible across every platform — from Instagram posts to podcasts to short-form videos.
This is how many, especially young people, consume news these days. But misinformation is rampant on social media. Our team at ToI produces accurate, responsible short-form reporting on Israel and the Jewish world.
If you believe in the importance of factual social media journalism, please consider joining our reader support group, The Times of Israel Community. Your financial support is essential to sustain responsible multimedia reporting.
We’re really pleased that you’ve read X Times of Israel articles in the past month.
That’s why we started the Times of Israel - to provide discerning readers like you with must-read coverage of Israel and the Jewish world.
So now we have a request. Unlike other news outlets, we haven’t put up a paywall. But as the journalism we do is costly, we invite readers for whom The Times of Israel has become important to help support our work by joining The Times of Israel Community.
For as little as $6 a month you can help support our quality journalism while enjoying The Times of Israel AD-FREE, as well as accessing exclusive content available only to Times of Israel Community members.
Thank you, David Horovitz, Founding Editor of The Times of Israel
From the Liveblog of
Wednesday, May 28, 2025
Add ToI as a Preferred Source on Google
