Netanyahu accuses police of extorting ‘false testimony’ from state witnesses
Back on stand after break due to surgery, PM, with his doctor present, tells judges he was ‘very disappointed’ they ignored his postoperative needs in refusing to cancel some hearings
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Testifying Monday in his criminal trial after a recess of nearly a month, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu accused the police and investigators of extorting “false testimony” against him from key witnesses.
Netanyahu alleged angrily that key aspects of the case against him rested on testimony that had been illegitimately obtained from witnesses such as former aides Nir Hefetz, Ari Harrow, and Shlomo Filber.
As in previous hearings, Netanyahu and his defense attorney Amit Hadad focused on aspects of the indictment against him that, according to Netanyahu’s testimony and Hadad’s claims, are factually inaccurate.
Monday was the seventh day of Netanyahu’s testimony, after a break during which the prime minister underwent surgery to remove his prostate.
The regular witness stand was removed in favor of a table to allow Netanyahu to sit for the duration of his testimony, owing to what his defense attorney said were medical recommendations that he not exert himself for an extended period.
The prime minister’s personal doctor was in attendance at the hearing.

Netanyahu is currently testifying in the Tel Aviv District Court regarding the charges against him of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000. The indictment against Netanyahu alleges that he had an illicit quid pro quo agreement with Walla new site owner Shaul Elovitch, by which Walla would give Netanyahu favorable coverage in return for the prime minister approving regulatory decisions that benefited Elovitch.
At the beginning of the hearing, Netanyahu protested the judges’ decision not to accede to the request of his lawyers to hold just one hearing this week due to postoperative complications and what the prime minister said was his need to deal with events in Lebanon and the hostage release process currently underway.
“I was very disappointed by your decision… I request consideration of this reality that would be given to any person,” Netanyahu told the judges.
The prime minister did not request any breaks to the proceedings on medical grounds, but he left the courtroom on three occasions to deal with government business after notes were handed to him during the hearing.
During the course of the hearing, the prime minister sought to dispel claims that he is seriously ill, insisting that he did not have pancreatic cancer or “any terminal illness of any kind.”
Said Netanyahu “Whatever illnesses I have you know about, the public knows, it is reported to you.”

Although much of the hearing focused on examples of the allegedly illicit quid pro quo agreement between Netanyahu and Elovitch, Hadad also directed Netanyahu to comment on the veracity of the key state witnesses’ testimony against him.
Hadad focused in particular on former Netanyahu spokesperson turned state witness Hefetz, whom Netanyahu castigated for having secretly recorded conversations with him in his office, and accused of having given false testimony due to pressure from the police and investigators.
Hefetz himself testified in 2021 that he was kept in harsh physical conditions in custody, including sleep deprivation, little food, and insanitary conditions, before he agreed to testify.
But he also maintained to the court that he did not agree to testify against Netanyahu due to the pressure exerted on him, but rather because he felt abandoned by the prime minister.

In his testimony regarding Case 4000, Hefetz stated that he had coordinated contacts and meetings between Netanyahu and Elovitch to advance the allegedly unlawful scheme by which Walla gave the prime minister positive coverage in return for regulatory favors benefiting Elovitch’s business interests.
“[Hefetz] was not someone I trusted, I wasn’t prepared to open up everything to him,” Netanyahu told the court. “There were pretty massive leaks from the office. I suspected that they came from him. It happened after he entered [his job with the prime minister].”
Addressing the alleged physical pressure exerted on Hefetz, Netanyahu said the police had put him in a bed with bedbugs, deprived him of sleep, and “apparently did even more violent things, and then they ruined his life.” He was alluding to threats allegedly made by police against Hefetz to reveal an extramarital affair he was involved in.
“This is what they did to [former aides] Ari Harrow and [Shlomo] Filber, they caused them to give false testimony — that’s what happened here,” declared Netanyahu, saying that he had initially been angry with Hefetz for testifying against him but that “after I saw the suffering they put him through I understood that he had to lie.”
Earlier during the hearing, Hadad asked Netanyahu about what he said were former prime minister Yitzhak Rabin’s frequent contacts with the media designed to influence public discourse about his policies.
The prime minister launched into a lengthy diatribe against the prosecution and the charges against him, insisting that it was natural for a prime minister to try and influence the media, and that the indictment’s assertion that he got “special treatment” from Walla was both unfounded and not a criminal violation.
“What is special treatment? I’ve been here for eight years, they’ve taken away part of my life,” stormed Netanyahu angrily, in reference to the lengthy period of time since the investigations against him were initiated.

“They [the prosecution] have driven an entire country crazy over a website… What have they indicted me for? What am I sitting here for? Over nonsense… They invented this idea [of special treatment] so they would have something to charge me with… What is this yardstick with which they have driven an entire country mad over the course of five elections?”
As in previous sessions, Hadad continued to highlight apparently damning aspects of the indictment against the premier, including an allegation that Netanyahu directly demanded of Elovitch that Walla publish an article about his son’s military service.
Netanyahu said in court he did not recall if he made the request, suggesting it may have come from his wife, Sara. But Hadad claimed that Walla had never published such an article anyway, despite the indictment stating that the website had acceded to Netanyahu’s request.
“There was no article. I cannot understand on what basis they use the words ‘demand’… We didn’t find an article and an article was not filed. There are other incidents like this,” fumed Hadad.
This prompted prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh to comment that “there is an evidentiary puzzle that needs to be presented,” to which Hadad retorted mockingly, “The indictment is a riddle, the evidence is a puzzle!”
Hadad continued by citing a 2014 Walla article criticizing Netanyahu for how he conducted war against Hamas in Gaza that year, and accusing him of not having sufficient sensitivity toward the dead.
Netanyahu alleged in court that Walla had been adopting the terror group’s messaging against him, and erupted angrily in court, labeling the news website “Walla Hamas” and “Walla Akbar.”
His testimony has focused on demonstrating that Walla not only did not give him favorable news coverage but was actively hostile to him.
Another alleged incident of Walla’s favorable treatment of Netanyahu highlighted by Hadad was in November 2014, when claims were made that the prime minister had been taken by helicopter to a hospital due to an emergency medical situation.
The indictment states that a request to Walla to publish an article retracting that story was made to the site’s CEO, Ilan Yeshua, with Netanyahu’s involvement, and that the request was “dealt with” by Yeshua.
But although several media outlets published articles dispelling the claims after Netanyahu’s office reached out to them, including statements by his personal physician, Walla never published Netanyahu’s denial.
“This was a natural request to remove a fake news item, but I didn’t get any special treatment at all,” said Netanyahu, adding that he had not known that anyone had reached out to Walla in the first place.
Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, is the most serious the prime minister faces, in which he is charged with bribery for accepting positive news coverage, and fraud and breach of trust. He is also accused of fraud and breach of trust in two additional cases.
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and claims, without evidence, that the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.