{"id":436070,"date":"2026-05-11T10:45:10","date_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:45:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/436070\/"},"modified":"2026-05-11T10:45:10","modified_gmt":"2026-05-11T10:45:10","slug":"benjamin-netanyahu-trial-hearing-opens-behind-closed-doors-amid-iran-proposal-tensions","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/436070\/","title":{"rendered":"Benjamin Netanyahu trial hearing opens behind closed doors amid Iran proposal tensions"},"content":{"rendered":"

The hearing in the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened at the Tel Aviv District Court<\/a> on Monday, amid the global tensions surrounding the crisis in negotiations between the US and Iran.\u00a0<\/p>\n

The hearing began with a closed-door session, moved to public testimony, and then ended at 12:45 per the defense\u2019s request.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was expected to convene a security meeting on Monday afternoon, as Israel continues to closely monitor developments in negotiations that could have significant implications for regional security and ongoing tensions with Tehran.<\/p>\n

The trial is currently at the cross-examination phase, as the prosecution questions Netanyahu and confronts him with observed inconsistencies in his testimony.<\/p>\n

The current questioning is taking place in Case 4000,<\/a> the Bezeq-Walla affair, which is the central case in Netanyahu\u2019s criminal trial, and the only one in which he is charged with bribery.<\/p>\n

Prosecutors allege that Netanyahu, while serving as communications minister, advanced regulatory decisions beneficial to Bezeq, then controlled by businessman Shaul Elovitch<\/a>, in exchange for favorable coverage on Walla, which Elovitch also owned at the time. Netanyahu denies the allegations and has repeatedly argued that the cases against him are politically motivated.<\/p>\n

The Case 4000 cross-examination is nearing its final stretch. Cross-examination in Case 2000, which concerns Netanyahu\u2019s conversations with the publisher of Yediot Aharonot, Arnon Mozes, is expected to follow.<\/p>\n

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 and began testifying in December 2024, becoming the first sitting Israeli prime minister to take the stand as a criminal defendant. Cross-examination began in June 2025, after months of direct examination by the defense.<\/p>\n

Beyond Case 4000, Netanyahu is charged in Case 1000 with fraud and breach of trust over allegations that he received gifts from wealthy businessmen, and in Case 2000 with fraud and breach of trust over alleged discussions with Mozes, concerning favorable coverage.<\/p>\n

He denies wrongdoing in all three cases.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The hearing in the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu opened at the Tel Aviv District Court…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":436071,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[3],"tags":[49,3194,42,22297,43,40,38,41,39,14072],"class_list":["post-436070","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headlines","tag-benjamin-netanyahu","tag-court","tag-headlines","tag-netanyahu-trial","tag-news","tag-top-news","tag-top-stories","tag-topnews","tag-topstories","tag-trial"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436070","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=436070"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/436070\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/436071"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=436070"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=436070"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/il\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=436070"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}