Ben-Gvir calls Netanyahu's trial a fabricated case and urges an end to it

Itamar Ben-Gvir, a minister in Benjamin Netanyahu's government, has called for the prime minister's criminal trial to be brought to an end. Writing in Hebrew on his X account, he said the case had long since stopped being Netanyahu's trial and had turned into a trial of the prosecution. He accused prosecutors of fabricating cases and of committing criminal offences in order to build a case against a serving prime minister, which he described as an attempt at a "regime coup against democracy."

Ben-Gvir said it was time to finish what he called the "fabricated trial" and to open an investigation into what he described as crimes by the prosecution and by the attorney general, whom he labelled a criminal. The Hebrew news outlet News.co.il reported on its Telegram channel that the minister's remarks came in response to the attorney general being summoned to court in connection with the cases against Netanyahu. Neither report gave further detail about that summons, who requested it or when the attorney general is due to appear.

What Ben-Gvir said, and what it rests on

The post is a statement of the minister's own view. It does not cite specific evidence, name individual prosecutors or point to particular court hearings. His claim that fresh evidence of wrongdoing by prosecutors surfaces every week is his assertion, and neither report sets out what he was referring to. The prosecution and the attorney general have not, in the material available to us, responded to his accusations.

Two Hebrew words in the post carry much of its weight. The first is tafur, literally "sewn" or "stitched", used in Israeli speech to describe a case that has been framed or put together to fit a predetermined outcome. Ben-Gvir uses it both for the trial as a whole and for the process by which he says the case was assembled. The second is the abbreviation for the attorney general, which in Hebrew is often shortened to a single word, yoamash. Ben-Gvir used the feminine form, reflecting that the office is currently held by a woman.

The attorney general and the prosecution in Israel

Israel's attorney general serves as the government's chief legal adviser and stands at the head of the public prosecution system. The office advises ministers on whether their decisions are lawful, represents the state in court and has final authority over whether senior public officials, including a prime minister, are indicted. The State Attorney's Office, which Ben-Gvir refers to as the prosecution, handles the day-to-day conduct of criminal cases, including Netanyahu's.

Because the attorney general both advises the cabinet and oversees criminal cases that can involve its members, the office has repeatedly been at the centre of political disputes. Ministers in the current coalition have often accused the legal establishment of overreach, while defenders of the office describe it as a safeguard of the rule of law. Ben-Gvir's call for the attorney general to be investigated fits within that longer argument.

Netanyahu's trial

Netanyahu has been on trial for several years on charges of fraud, breach of trust and, in one of the cases, bribery. The cases concern allegations that he received gifts from wealthy associates and that he sought favourable media coverage in exchange for regulatory or other benefits. Netanyahu denies all the charges and has long described the investigations against him as politically motivated. He continued to serve as prime minister while the trial proceeded, testifying in court as a sitting head of government.

Calls from coalition politicians to halt the trial, or to investigate the people who brought it, are not new. Ben-Gvir's language about a "regime coup" echoes a phrase that has been used on both sides of Israel's political divide: supporters of the government have applied it to the legal system, while opponents have applied it to the government's own efforts to change the judiciary.

Who is Ben-Gvir

Ben-Gvir leads Otzma Yehudit (Jewish Power), a hard-right party that has been part of Netanyahu's coalition. He has frequently clashed publicly with the attorney general and with law enforcement leadership. As a minister, his statements carry political weight, but a post on social media does not by itself change the course of a criminal trial, which remains in the hands of the court and the prosecution.

What the reports do not say

• Neither report explains why the attorney general was summoned to court, by whom, or what she is expected to address.
• Ben-Gvir did not set out any evidence for his claims of fabrication or criminal conduct by prosecutors.
• No response from the attorney general, the State Attorney's Office or Netanyahu himself has been reported.
• It is not clear whether Ben-Gvir intends to take any formal step, such as a cabinet proposal, to pursue the investigation he called for.