At behest of Likud lawyer, police probe journalist for talking on phone while driving in TV segment

Police summoned Channel 13’s investigative journalist Raviv Drucker on Monday for questioning over his apparent use of a cellphone while driving during a segment of “HaMakor,” the investigative program he hosts on the television network.

According to reporting by the Haaretz daily, a complaint was filed with the police over the alleged incident by attorney Ilan Bombach on behalf of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s Likud party.

The complaint stated that in a segment that aired on September 23, 2026, Drucker was filmed driving with one hand on the steering wheel and the other hand holding a phone while investigating how Heritage Minister Amichay Eliyahu has allotted state money in his ministry’s budget. According to the complaint, Drucker violated Regulation 28(b)(1)(a) of Israel’s Traffic Regulations, which forbids driving a vehicle in motion while holding a phone.

The episode in question examined the allocation of public resources within the Heritage Ministry and whether it has resulted in any conflicts of interest or preferential treatment.

About eight minutes into the 33-minute episode, Drucker was seen phoning Choni Yakont, the chief executive officer of the “Rega” media group, with his left hand on the steering wheel and his right hand holding the phone.

The complaint noted that the individual sitting next to Drucker in the vehicle could have held the phone. Because he did not, it claimed, Drucker chose to air the footage on the program showing “blatant disdain” for the law.

It asked the Israel Police to open an investigation and take “enforcement and punitive measures.”

Drucker told Haaretz that two units called him to come in for questioning, and charged that the police “are subordinate to the chairman” of Likud.

Eliyahu, the minister under investigation in Drucker’s segment, is a member of the far-right Otzma Yehudit party, which sits in coalition with Likud.

The Union of Journalists in Israel condemned the summoning of Drucker for questioning, focusing not on the alleged traffic violation but on how the police handled the complaint. In its condemnation, posted on social media by Haaretz journalist Yair Foldes, the organization raised concerns about the actions taken against an investigative journalist.

“This is an improper collaboration between the police and Likud, intended entirely to intimidate and harm a critical journalist,” the organization wrote in the statement. “Ordinary citizens who have documentation of them talking on the phone while driving receive a fine notice in the mail and are not summoned for questioning. We request that the police commissioner investigate the circumstances of this reprehensible collaboration and prevent the recurrence of such cases.”

According to reporting by the Ynet news site, police said they questioned Drucker because footage of him driving while using a phone had circulated on social media before the complaint was filed.

Channel 13 had not issued a statement on the matter as of Tuesday morning.