Netanyahu testimony paused after guards tussle with bereaved families

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial was delayed for several minutes Wednesday while court ushers tried to remove bereaved parents whose children were killed on October 7, 2023, and during the war in Gaza.

The parents had apparently been sitting quietly in the courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court when a guard instructed them to go out. Footage from the courtroom showed several parents remonstrating with guards, insisting there was no reason for them to be ejected. There was some argument regarding claims that someone had held up a sign, which relatives forcefully denied, saying the signs were with them but had not been held up.

Reut Edri, whose son was murdered at the Nova rave, told Kan: “We sat quietly and respectfully. We respected the court. One of our speakers passed us some photos under our feet to put into a bag. We didn’t wave anything. Within two seconds the security guards came and said we had raised signs. I’ve never seen anything like it. The hearing was halted — for what reason? So that the prime minister wouldn’t have to look the bereaved families in the eyes even once?”

Eyal Eshel, the father of Roni Eshel, one of the surveillance soldiers killed during the October 7 Hamas attack at the Nahal Oz base, told the judges that the relatives had not come to create a “provocation” but simply to “look him [Netanyahu] in the eyes and request the simplest of things — a state commission of inquiry.”

Another video showed a weeping mother say, “I’d like to see him not form [a commission], I’d like to see it… He torched our families. He torched the country. I’d like to see it.”

The prime minister’s defense attorney Amit Hadad requested that the family members not be ejected, and they were eventually allowed to remain in the courtroom.

משפחות שכולות התבקשו לצאת מהדיון במשפט נתניהו כי ביקשו להניף שלטים עם תמונות יקירהן; חלק מהן פרצו בבכי pic.twitter.com/ogKatLkS1I

— Maya Nadan מיה נדן (@Maya_Nadan) December 10, 2025

Netanyahu and his government have steadfastly refused to establish a state commission of inquiry, claiming it would be biased against the government since its members would be appointed by the president of the Supreme Court, as the government continues its efforts to massively curb the powers of the judiciary.

During the prime minister’s testimony, he was asked about his relations with Shaul Elovitch, the former owner of both the Bezeq telecommunications company and the Walla news site, and whether he believed Elovitch sought to cozy up to him with positive coverage due to his desire for regulatory benefits (Netanyahu is accused of approving decisions beneficial to Bezeq in return for the bribe of positive media coverage from Walla).

Netanyahu insisted that he “didn’t make that connection,” adding that “other publishers also had business interests, and I spoke with them because I wanted to influence one [news] item or another… This never came up in any conversation I had with Elovitch.”

Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh pressed Netanyahu: “These aren’t people operating in a black box. They have a relationship with you. The evidence shows these are people who want to serve your interests. There is no way in the world that this wouldn’t come up before you, and it’s inconceivable that you wouldn’t consider it.”

The premier responded that they “never talked about regulation, because he knows that no one asks me for anything and I don’t do favors for anyone.” At the same time, he said, he “had a very close relationship, including dinners and including with our partners,” with various news magnates.

The premier is on trial for fraud and breach of trust in three cases and bribery in one of them. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and says all three cases were fabricated by the police and state prosecution in an attempted political coup. He recently requested a pardon from President Isaac Herzog, but offered no admission of guilt or contrition. He argued that it is in Israel’s national interest for him to be pardoned, so he can focus fully on running the country.

Netanyahu, in the six years since he was indicted, has declared his innocence time and again and decried the trial as a politically motivated witch hunt.

He has argued that the trial is tearing Israel apart and that its immediate conclusion through a pardon “would greatly help lower the flames and promote broad reconciliation.”

Herzog has said he would evaluate the request based on expert opinion from the Justice Ministry and other legal officials in a process that is expected to take several weeks.