Netanyahu in "Great Danger" on Case 1000

Dual Strategy: Courtroom Defense and Political Messaging

According to the veteran attorney, Netanyahu's testimony revealed a calculated split-screen approach that deliberately targeted different audiences with different messages. "This trial is being conducted in duplicate, one for the court, and two for the base, for the public and for all the people of Israel," Gaz explained.

"When he says things like that, he's a smart man. He knows that statements like these don't help him in court and maybe even hurt him, but he says it because the people will hear it and there are elections coming soon," the attorney noted, referring to Netanyahu's explosive final statement accusing prosecutors of orchestrating a decade-long campaign to destroy him and his family.

Case 1000: The Hidden Threat

Despite the collapse of the most serious bribery charge in Case 4000, Gaz identified the seemingly less dramatic gifts affair as Netanyahu's greatest legal vulnerability. "He has a very serious problem in Case 1000," the attorney warned. "There is a very great danger that he will be convicted in Case 1000, because his version is that he received these gifts as friendship. He knows he has a problem."

Case 1000 centers on allegations that Netanyahu and his wife Sara accepted over $200,000 worth of luxury gifts, including cigars, champagne, jewelry, and even a giant Bugs Bunny plush toy, from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer between 2007 and 2016. Prosecutors allege Netanyahu reciprocated with political favors, including pushing for Milchan's U.S. visa extension and supporting tax legislation beneficial to the producer.

The prime minister's defense that the gifts represented normal exchanges between friends faces significant evidentiary challenges, according to Gaz's assessment. The sheer volume and value of the gifts, combined with the timing of alleged political favors, creates what the attorney characterized as serious conviction risk.

Case 4000: Bribery Charge Collapse

In sharp contrast to the gifts case, Gaz predicted that the most serious charge in the entire indictment, bribery in the Bezeq-Walla affair, will ultimately be dropped based on signals from the judicial panel. "Case 4000 is the serious and severe case, and the most serious offense there is the bribery charge. The court told them to get off the bribery case. I don't believe a court can go back on that," he stated.

"They're not angels; even if they reached the conclusion that they were wrong in that statement, the entire nation heard them and the defendant heard them," Gaz added, referring to earlier judicial comments that appeared to cast doubt on the bribery allegations.

Case 4000 alleges that Netanyahu granted regulatory benefits worth hundreds of millions of shekels to Bezeq owner Shaul Elovitch in exchange for favorable coverage on the Walla news site. The case has been considered the most legally serious of the three cases, but the apparent judicial skepticism toward the bribery charge significantly alters the legal landscape.

The Plea Deal Path

Despite the advanced stage of proceedings following Netanyahu's testimony conclusion, Gaz maintained that a negotiated resolution remains viable. "I don't think the door has closed on mediation and a plea agreement, and I always believed that's how this will end," he stated.

The attorney proposed a creative legal framework that could provide an exit ramp for both sides: "There could be a creative solution, if the president tells him that he will pardon him after he takes responsibility for Case 1000."

Such an arrangement would allow Netanyahu to acknowledge wrongdoing in the gifts case while avoiding the full consequences of conviction through presidential clemency.

In a strange twist the case that seemed least threatening may prove most dangerous, while the most serious charge appears headed for dismissal.