Ex-Police Official: Witness Security Misused in Netanyahu Case

A retired senior police officer has leveled serious accusations against Israeli law enforcement and prosecution authorities over their handling of witness protection in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's ongoing corruption trial. Omri Adika, a former police superintendent, made the allegations in an interview with journalist Eli Tzipori on Galei Israel radio, amid ongoing controversy surrounding the security arrangements for prosecution witnesses.

According to Adika, witnesses in the Netanyahu trial were automatically assigned a threat level of 6, the highest possible rating, resulting in security costs running into millions of shekels. "The police erred and transgressed on this matter, and this issue will yet be investigated and examined," Adika stated. "I'm telling you that things will be exposed here that the public will be shocked by, how the Israel Police, together with the prosecution, wasted millions of shekels on nothing at all."

Adika expressed skepticism about the justification for the security measures, questioning whether any concrete threat actually existed against the witnesses. "I doubt whether there was a concrete threat against any of these witnesses," he said. "Even then I said that in my opinion, all this security was intended solely to empower them and assist the prosecution in their testimony in court."

When interviewer Tzipori asked whether designating witnesses as "threatened" is sometimes a bluff, Adika responded affirmatively: "Yes, it's a bluff. In the case of Netanyahu's witnesses, this matter must be examined and investigated." He outlined several questions that need answers: "We will want to know who conducted the threat assessment for these witnesses, who determined that the security level would be at level 6, who budgeted this step, and why the Israel Police secured these witnesses and not the dedicated unit in the National Security Ministry, whose defined role is to protect witnesses."

The allegations raise questions about resource allocation and procedural integrity in one of Israel's most high-profile legal cases. Netanyahu has been on trial since 2020 on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery in three separate cases, which he denies. The trial has featured testimony from numerous witnesses, some of whom previously worked closely with the prime minister.