Leaked interrogation footage fuels documentary on Netanyahu corruption trial

A new documentary premiering at the Toronto Film Festival this week lays bare the police interrogations that led to Binyamin Netanyahu's indictment on corruption charges, drawing a direct line between the prime minister's legal troubles and the security crisis engulfing Israel.

"The Bibi Files", directed by Alexis Bloom and co-produced by Oscar-winner Alex Gibney, screened as a work-in-progress on Monday after a Jerusalem court rejected Netanyahu's petition to block its release. The film is built on thousands of hours of leaked interrogation footage recorded between 2016 and 2018, material that has never been shown publicly in Israel because of strict privacy laws.

Three cases, one pattern

Netanyahu faces three separate indictments, known as Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000. Case 1000 centres on allegations that the prime minister and his wife Sara Netanyahu received lavish gifts, including Cohiba cigars code-named "green leaves" and champagne dubbed "pinks", from billionaire friends Arnon Milchan and James Packer in exchange for political favours. Case 2000 involves alleged negotiations with the owner of Yedioth Ahronoth for favourable coverage. Case 4000 concerns a "reciprocal deal" with the owner of the Walla news site.

The footage captures Netanyahu at times relaxed, at times evasive. In one exchange, an interrogator asks whether he requested an opaque bag to conceal a box of cigars worth roughly $1,100. "Perhaps. I don't remember," Netanyahu replies. Pressed further, he shrugs: "So I asked, so what?"

Contrast in the interrogation room

The film juxtaposes the prime minister's nonchalance with the distress of lower-level staff. The Netanyahu family's housekeeper breaks down in tears, telling officers: "I felt it was wrong, but what could I do? They told me to do it. I'm just afraid my parents will find out and be ashamed of me." By contrast, Sara Netanyahu erupts at her questioners: "Your evidence is utter and complete bullshit. Bye!"

"Many people that I spoke to, both on the record and off the record, have said that Netanyahu has got to this state where he's confusing himself with Israel, like, l'état c'est moi,"

Bloom said in an interview before the screening. The couple's son Yair Netanyahu features in a March 2019 session police dubbed "the Yair Netanyahu horror show", during which he compares investigators to the Stasi and the Gestapo.

From gifts to governance

The documentary, which includes commentary from former Shin Bet chief Ami Ayalon, investigative journalist Raviv Drucker and former presidential adviser Nimrod Novik, traces how the corruption allegations reshaped Israeli politics. Mainstream parties refused to sit in a Netanyahu-led coalition after the 2022 election, forcing him to partner with far-right figures such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, politicians once considered untouchable.

"His legal predicament was undermining our security," Drucker says in the film. Ayalon adds: "We were weak, but not because of the protests, because of the policies he led. And it was clear to me that our resilience was falling apart. It created a huge danger, a security danger, because our enemies understand it, sometimes earlier than we do."

War raises the stakes

The October 7 attacks occurred while the film was in production. Bloom, whose father is Jewish and who has visited Israel frequently, said the war created a new urgency. "Pretty much straightaway, there was a consistency amongst many Israelis that Netanyahu should not be prime minister. And they said to us he shouldn't be prime minister in times of peace, and particularly not in times of war."

The film closes with Netanyahu's July 24 address to a joint session of the US Congress, his fourth such speech, surpassing Winston Churchill. Novik calls it "the best-articulated bunch of empty slogans" with no plan for ending the war or returning hostages. "The fact that 100 members of the House and Senate boycotted his speech was not visible. The fact that the administration is so frustrated is not expressed. They whisper, but the whisper is not heard."

Distribution hurdles

Israeli privacy laws bar public release of interrogation footage without the consent of those filmed, making a domestic screening virtually impossible. "It's unlikely that Netanyahu was going to give his permission," Gibney said. The filmmakers plan to distribute internationally, targeting American audiences in particular. "Honestly, these stories about Netanyahu are fairly well known in Israel," Bloom said. "So many Israelis along the way have said to me, 'You need to get this out to the wider world.'"

With the war in Gaza continuing and Netanyahu's trial still underway, the directors felt they could not wait for a polished final cut. "We're dealing with a conflagration in the Middle East where people are dying every day," Gibney said. "It needs to get out there, and it needs to get out there now."