Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court again on Wednesday to be cross-examined in his ongoing corruption trial, after it resumed on Tuesday following an extended break due to the Iran war.
The proceedings were significantly interrupted, however, after he excused himself from the Tel Aviv courtroom just 30 minutes after the hearing began for what he said was an urgent security-related call at the Kirya military headquarters.
He was granted permission to halt proceedings for the security consultation despite the court rejecting a request from the premier’s lawyer Amit Hadad to shorten Wednesday’s testimony by three hours due to a “security-related schedule.”
Israel is in the midst of fragile ceasefires that have paused conflicts in Iran and Lebanon. Another long-running ceasefire is in effect in Gaza.
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman rejected the request on the grounds that the material she received provided no sufficient reason to delay the start of the hearing from 9:30 a.m. to 12:30 p.m.
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Nevertheless, Hebrew media reported that Netanyahu arrived at the court half an hour late, and then departed for his meeting at the Kirya 30 minutes later, with the court’s permission.
According to the Ynet news site, the security consultation was held on the issue of the latest anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian international flotilla en route to the Gaza Strip.
The Global Sumud Flotilla set sail from Sicily two days ago with more than 60 vessels carrying symbolic humanitarian aid for Gaza and aiming to break Israel’s blockade of the Strip.
Netanyahu returned on Wednesday afternoon to finish the remainder of the scheduled hearing.
Israeli businessman, Shaul Elovitch seen after a court hearing in the Bezeq Affair, at the Tel Aviv District Court on July 20, 2022. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)
The testimony was focused on Case 4000, in which Netanyahu is accused of authorizing regulatory decisions that financially benefited telecommunications mogul Shaul Elovitch — who at the time was the controlling shareholder of the Bezeq telecom company — by hundreds of millions of shekels, in exchange for positive coverage from the Bezeq-owned Walla news site.
During Wednesday’s hearing, prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh told the court that she expected there would be a few more hearings on Case 4000 before the cross-examination in the separate Case 2000 could begin.
Case 2000 deals with a suspected quid-pro-quo between Netanyahu and Arnon Mozes, publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper.
Tirosh told the court that she was “making every effort” to tie up Case 4000, and was aiming for the final hearing on the matter to be on Monday, but said it may also require another on Tuesday.
She told the court, according to Ynet, that the reason for the delay was the frequent interruptions, cancellations, and abbreviated sessions that have plagued Netanyahu’s testimony.
The premier has testified 80 times so far, beginning in December 2024 with direct questioning by his own attorney, with the cross-examination beginning in June 2025, fully five years after the trial opened.
In November 2025, he concluded his testimony in Case 1000, in which he is suspected of fraud and breach of trust for having accepted large amounts of luxury goods from Hollywood mogul and billionaire Arnon Milchan in return for the prime minister assisting him in obtaining a long-term US visa and in merging the Keshet and Reshet television networks.
Netanyahu is the first sitting prime minister to go on trial in Israel. He has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that the corruption cases against him are a witch hunt and a political coup attempt fabricated by his opponents.
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