Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday accused lead prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh of lying during his cross-examination in Case 4000, as questioning returned to the so-called “directive meeting” with former Communications Ministry director-general Shlomo Filber.
The hearing at the Tel Aviv District Court was cut short at the defense’s request, after Netanyahu asked to end proceedings at 2 p.m. due to a Knesset commitment, to which Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman agreed.
At the center of Monday’s session was the alleged meeting in which, prosecutors say, Netanyahu instructed Filber to act in ways that benefited Bezeq’s then-controlling shareholder, Shaul Elovitch. Accusations include accelerating approvals tied to the Bezeq-Yes merger and softening market reforms, as part of an alleged quid pro quo involving favorable coverage for Netanyahu and his family on the Walla news site.
PM denies accusations, accuses investigators of coercion
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and has repeatedly rejected the prosecution’s characterization of the meeting, calling it either nonexistent or stripped of the meaning prosecutors ascribe to it, and insisting he never gave Filber instructions aimed at helping Elovitch.
The timing of that meeting has become a central dispute in the case. The indictment originally framed it as occurring shortly after Filber’s appointment, but the defense has argued that the state’s timeline does not align with call records and schedules, a disagreement that has previously led prosecutors to seek amendments to the indictment’s time frame.
During Monday’s questioning, Netanyahu again accused investigators of coercing testimony from Filber after he signed a state witness agreement, a claim the prosecution rejects.