Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu clashed with prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh on Wednesday during his testimony in Case 4000, as the cross-examination returned to Walla’s coverage of him and his Likud campaign during the final days of the 2015 election.
The hearing focused first on a March 2015 interview Netanyahu gave to Walla journalist Dov Gil-Har shortly before the election. According to the indictment, Netanyahu was involved in demands to delay the publication of the interview and to edit it before it was posted on the site, which was then controlled by Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch.
Netanyahu rejected the prosecution’s framing of the episode, saying that the interview was hostile and had violated understandings reached between his spokesman and Walla. He said he had not sought improper intervention in the interview and pushed back against reliance on former spokesman Nir Hefetz, a state witness in the case.
The Gil-Har interview has previously been a key item in the prosecution’s broader account of Walla’s alleged responsiveness to Netanyahu-related requests. Gil-Har testified in 2023 that Netanyahu reacted angrily to the interview and that pressure was later applied over its publication; reports at the time said the interview was ultimately posted only after delays and in a less prominent manner.
Tirosh then moved to the campaign’s Election Day messaging, including the video in which Netanyahu warned that “Arab voters” were moving in large numbers to the polls. The clip, which Netanyahu published on March 17, 2015, became one of the most controversial moments of that election. Walla’s own archive from the day shows that the video was published on the site under the headline warning that “the rule of the Right is in danger.”
Netanyahu denies all wrongdoing in Case 4000
The prosecution argued that the video was important to Netanyahu in real time and that its placement on Walla served the Likud campaign’s effort to increase turnout.
Netanyahu said the video was meant to mobilize Likud voters and argued that the wording would have been more precise had it referred to voters for Arab parties.
He maintained that Walla was not the sole outlet to publish the video and said he did not remember monitoring the exact placement of the item on the site while campaigning across the country.
The question of how Walla handled the Election Day video has long been part of the Case 4000 record. The indictment alleges that demands were made to publish the video and keep it prominently displayed on Walla’s homepage. The prosecution says those demands were conveyed through Hefetz and answered through the involvement of the Elovitches.
Media monitoring and prior testimony have also dealt with whether Walla gave the item especially prominent treatment compared with other outlets.
Netanyahu denied that the episode proved the prosecution’s claim that he had influence over Walla coverage. He argued instead that the broader set of Walla items in the case showed the opposite, saying the site often published hostile or unhelpful coverage.
The hearing later moved toward two additional items in the indictment appendix involving Netanyahu’s son, Yair Netanyahu.
Tirosh said that one concerned a demand for clarification that a Walla article about a politician’s wife was not referring to the Netanyahu family, and the other concerned a publication about Yair Netanyahu and his girlfriend, including a request to send a paparazzi photographer.
The court then moved behind closed doors, remained as such until it was ended early, per Netanyahu’s request.
Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla affair, is the most serious of the three cases against Netanyahu. He is charged in the case with bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. The prosecution alleges that Netanyahu and his family made repeated requests concerning coverage on Walla, and that Shaul and Iris Elovitch acted to answer those requests while Netanyahu advanced regulatory matters of major financial significance to Bezeq.
Netanyahu denies all wrongdoing. The amended indictment describes the alleged relationship as a “give-and-take” bribery relationship involving media coverage and regulatory benefits.
Netanyahu has testified for more than 80 days, and the Case 4000 cross-examination is nearing its final stretch. The prosecution has estimated that several full days of testimony remain, after which the defense is expected to conduct a shorter redirect examination. Cross-examination in Case 2000, which concerns Netanyahu’s conversations with Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon Mozes, is expected to follow.
The hearing also comes as President Isaac Herzog’s effort to encourage talks toward a possible plea deal remains unresolved.
Attorney-General Gali Baharav-Miara and State Attorney Amit Aisman informed the President’s Residence this week that the prosecution was willing to speak with the defense about a proper plea arrangement, but only without preconditions and without delaying the trial.
Netanyahu has not yet responded publicly to the initiative.
Source:
www.jpost.com
