Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened his testimony on Wednesday by telling the Jerusalem District Court that although his request to delay the morning hearing had been rejected, he would still need to leave court at 10:30 a.m. for a security call at the Kirya.
“I asked, and I know my request was not accepted, to take a break until 12,” Netanyahu told the judges at the start of the hearing. “But at 10:30 I will need to go to the Kirya, for a certain call that I have to make. I don’t know exactly how long it will take.”
Presiding Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman immediately replied: “Okay.”
Netanyahu later left the courtroom for the security call, and the hearing was expected to resume at noon.
The exchange came after Netanyahu’s defense team asked the court on Tuesday night to delay the start of Wednesday’s testimony, citing Netanyahu’s security schedule. In a filing submitted by Netanyahu’s attorney Amit Hadad, the defense asked the court to hold the hearing only from 12:30 p.m. to 4 p.m., citing a “security matter” that was detailed separately in a sealed envelope submitted to the court and the prosecution. The defense said that because of the tight timetable, the request was submitted before the prosecution’s response was received.
Friedman-Feldman, sitting with Judges Moshe Bar-Am and Oded Shaham, rejected the request overnight.
“After reviewing the request and the confidential material, I have not found a sufficient basis justifying the requested change in the hearing date,” Friedman-Feldman wrote in the decision. “The hearing will take place as scheduled.”
But in practice, the morning hearing was interrupted after Netanyahu said from the witness stand that he had to leave for the Kirya.
Before the break, the judges and prosecution also appeared to be looking ahead to the end of Netanyahu’s cross-examination in Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla affair.
Judge Moshe Bar-Am asked prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh, with apparent impatience, whether she would finish Case 4000 on Wednesday. Tirosh reminded him that Tuesday’s hearing had lasted only about four hours and said she hoped to finish by Monday or Tuesday.
“I am interested in finishing no less than your honor,” she said.
Tirosh then continued questioning Netanyahu on what the prosecution says was the pattern of conduct by former Communications Ministry director-general Shlomo Filber after Netanyahu allegedly instructed him to benefit Shaul Elovitch, then the controlling shareholder of Bezeq.
The questioning focused on several regulatory issues at the heart of Case 4000, including Bezeq’s landline phone services, the terms under which competitors could use Bezeq infrastructure, and the cancellation of structural separation between Bezeq and its subsidiaries. According to Tirosh, Filber acted in ways that benefited Bezeq and aligned with its interests, including delaying reforms, repeatedly seeking agreements with the company rather than imposing decisions on it, and sending draft documents to Bezeq for review without the knowledge of the professional officials in the ministry.
Tirosh put to Netanyahu that Filber’s conduct stemmed from Netanyahu’s alleged request to benefit Elovitch and to soften price reductions, against the understanding that Bezeq was in a fragile position and that agreements should be reached with it.
She then asked whether Netanyahu was changing his answer regarding the alleged “guidance meeting” with Filber.
Netanyahu rejected the claim outright.
“I did not say anything to Filber,” Netanyahu said. “I did not speak to him about this at all.”
He then attacked the prosecution’s handling of the case, saying investigators had “destroyed” Filber’s life, used spyware against people close to him, and “fabricated” a date for a meeting that did not happen.
“I did not speak to him about telephony, not one word,” Netanyahu said.
The decision and the interrupted morning hearing came a day after Netanyahu returned to the witness stand for the first time since February 24, following a two-month pause caused by the Iran war and security developments in the region. Tuesday’s hearing was also the first after a last-minute cancellation of Monday’s scheduled testimony, which the defense attributed to Netanyahu’s security schedule.
Tuesday’s hearing was cut short, but cross-examination resumed in Case 4000, the most serious of the three cases against Netanyahu because it includes a bribery charge. Prosecutors have argued that Netanyahu used his authority as communications minister to advance regulatory decisions that benefited Bezeq, while Elovitch’s Walla news site allegedly provided Netanyahu and his family with favorable coverage. Netanyahu denies that such a meeting took place and has denied all wrongdoing.
The renewed testimony also unfolded against a parallel development outside the courtroom: President Isaac Herzog’s legal team invited both the defense and prosecution to begin preliminary talks to reach an understanding on a possible plea bargain. Herzog’s legal adviser, Michal Tsuk-Shafir, wrote to both sides on Tuesday evening, inviting them to meet at the President’s Residence in Jerusalem to explore whether discussions could be opened “with an open heart and sincere, good intention.”
Tsuk-Shafir clarified that participation in the process would not constitute agreement to the other side’s legal positions in the trial. The move is only preliminary, meant to determine whether agreements can be reached before Herzog considers Netanyahu’s pending pardon request. Herzog’s office has repeatedly said that the president believes efforts to reach an agreement between the sides should be exhausted before the pardon request itself is addressed.
Netanyahu’s criminal trial, which began in 2020, is now in the defense stage, with the prime minister testifying as a defendant. He was indicted in 2019 and has pleaded not guilty. He began testifying in December 2024, in a first for a sitting Israeli prime minister facing criminal charges, and prosecutors began cross-examining him in June 2025 after months of direct examination by the defense.
The indictment includes three cases: Case 1000, in which Netanyahu is accused of receiving expensive gifts, including cigars and champagne, from wealthy businessmen Arnon Milchan and James Packer, while allegedly taking actions to benefit Milchan; Case 2000, which centers on alleged discussions between Netanyahu and Yediot Aharonot publisher Arnon Mozes about favorable coverage in exchange for weakening rival newspaper Israel Hayom; and Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla affair. Netanyahu faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Cases 1000 and 2000, and bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in Case 4000.