Netanyahu Demands Investigation Into Participants of Anti-Israel Film 'NAZA'

Good Morning, Israel · Monday, October 12, 2026 · 8:25

Episode 15 · Monday, October 12, 2026 · 8:25

Netanyahu Demands Investigation Into Participants of Anti-Israel Film 'NAZA'

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1. Netanyahu Demands Investigation Into Participants of Anti-Israel Film 'NAZA'
2. Health Ministry Advises Haifa Residents to Stay Indoors After Benzene Spike Near Oil Refineries
3. Ex-AG Mandelblit Testifies in Netanyahu Trial, Citing Flawed Investigations
4. Ex-AG Mandelblit Testifies in Netanyahu Corruption Trial
5. Netanyahu Condemns Riyadh Airport Attack, Vows Joint Fight Against Terrorism
6. Bennett's Hypothetical Offer for Netanyahu Sparks Opposition Backlash

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Maya

Benzene levels have spiked near the oil refineries in Haifa, and two schools there are closed today.

Daniel

And a former Attorney General took the stand for the defense in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial.

Maya

This is Good Morning, Israel from baba News. It's Monday, October twelfth. I'm Maya.

Daniel

And I'm Daniel.

Maya

Haifa first. That's Israel's big port city in the north. What's in the air?

Daniel

Benzene. Israel's Health Ministry and its Environmental Protection Ministry ordered two Haifa schools closed today because of high benzene levels near the Bazan oil refinery.

Maya

Bazan being the giant refinery complex on Haifa Bay.

Daniel

Right, the country's largest. And residents living within one kilometer have been advised to stay indoors, windows closed, air conditioners on.

Maya

Why the spike now?

Daniel

It followed maintenance work and repairs to war damage at the refinery.

Maya

War damage. So this is a leftover from the fighting, not a random leak.

Daniel

Exactly. Bazan was hit during the war, and fixing it apparently stirred things up. Benzene is a known carcinogen, which is why the ministries moved quickly to close schools.

Maya

And it's an old fight in Haifa, whether a refinery belongs that close to where people live.

Daniel

It is. Every episode like this reopens that argument.

Maya

To the courtroom. Netanyahu's trial has been running for years, but Sunday was unusual.

Daniel

Very. Former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit testified as a defense witness. He's the man who approved opening the investigations and later indicted Netanyahu.

Maya

Wait. The man who indicted him is testifying for him?

Daniel

For the defense, yes. The prosecution called it unusual, but didn't object, because his approval to open the investigation is itself part of the case.

Maya

So what did he say?

Daniel

He confirmed he was deeply involved, and that he approved the investigations into gifts and into the use of an apartment. But he said any new line of inquiry needed his separate consent.

Maya

And some didn't get it.

Daniel

That's what he acknowledged. Some investigative actions were taken without his full knowledge or approval. He said the wiretapping of Natan Eshel, a longtime Netanyahu associate, didn't get his explicit approval, and he ordered it halted immediately.

Maya

What about Nir Hefetz?

Daniel

Hefetz is the former Netanyahu media adviser who turned state witness. Mandelblit called the interrogation tactics used on him improper.

Maya

Coming from the former Attorney General, that's not a small word.

Daniel

No. And the political reaction was instant. Likud, Netanyahu's party, called for the trial to be halted immediately.

Maya

And Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana went further.

Daniel

He urged a presidential pardon. In Israel, that's the President's power, not the Prime Minister's.

Maya

Fifteen days before an election, the trial's now on the campaign trail.

Daniel

Right. The defense says the case was flawed from the start. The prosecution will say approval was given where it counted. Judges, not campaigns, settle that.

Maya

Now Saudi Arabia, and a deadly attack.

Daniel

On Saturday, the Houthis, the Iranian backed terrorist organization in Yemen, attacked King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh. Twelve people were killed and three hundred and nine injured, with victims from several countries.

Maya

And Israel responded.

Daniel

Prime Minister Netanyahu condemned the attack, offered condolences, and called for a united front against terrorism.

Maya

An Israeli Prime Minister offering condolences to Riyadh. That says something about where the region is.

Daniel

It does. The Houthis have fired missiles and drones at Israel for years. Now they've hit a Saudi airport. Netanyahu's message is that it's the same enemy, and the same patron in Tehran.

Maya

Which brings us back to Iran. Yesterday we told you about a report that Washington had urged an Israeli strike, and that the push was halted.

Daniel

The new piece is that Israel is reportedly preparing for potential U S military action against Iran, possibly even before Israel's elections.

Maya

American action, not Israeli.

Daniel

That's the distinction. An Israeli official deems an Israeli strike before the election unlikely. But preparing for what Washington might do is a different matter.

Maya

Staying with the campaign. Naftali Bennett said something his own allies hated.

Daniel

Bennett is a former Prime Minister, now chairman of the Together party. He said he'd consider Netanyahu as a minister in his government, if Netanyahu accepted his party's principles.

Maya

Netanyahu, as Bennett's minister. Bold.

Daniel

And rejected within minutes. Gadi Eisenkot, the former I D F chief of staff, and Avigdor Liberman, who heads the Yisrael Beiteinu party, both said anyone in office on October seventh is unfit to lead.

Maya

And then Bennett walked it back.

Daniel

He clarified it was hypothetical, and said his party opposes Netanyahu serving in any capacity, because of his responsibility for October seventh.

Maya

Hypothetically, he made a lot of people angry.

Daniel

Hypothetically, yes. But it shows how fragile the opposition bloc is. One loose sentence and everyone checks whether the coalition math still works.

Maya

Now your grocery bill. A study out of Tel Aviv University.

Daniel

Researchers tracked eighty common products in Israeli online supermarkets, from September twenty eighteen to August twenty twenty-six. Prices rose nineteen percent in the last four years.

Maya

Nineteen percent. That's an acceleration?

Daniel

A significant one, compared with the earlier period. The sharp inflation started in twenty twenty-two, and some products jumped by as much as seventy-eight percent.

Maya

Seventy-eight. What's driving it?

Daniel

The researchers point to a lack of competition and insufficient government action. Israel's food market is dominated by a small number of big suppliers and importers.

Maya

And their prescription?

Daniel

More competition, and removing the barriers that keep new players out of the market.

Maya

Which every government promises, and every shopper is still waiting for.

Daniel

Right. And it's a live election issue, since the cost of living hits everyone.

Maya

Speaking of which, one company is trying to ease the pain at the pump. Thirty drivers at a time.

Daniel

Dolek, an Israeli fuel company, is marking its seventy-fifth anniversary by giving thirty drivers six months of free fuel. That's six hundred liters of gasoline each.

Maya

How long does it run?

Daniel

From October eighth to November sixth. And it comes as fuel prices dipped slightly, to seven point seven seven shekels per liter.

Maya

A dip. To nearly eight shekels a liter.

Daniel

Which is exactly why free fuel sounds like a prize.

Maya

One more update. Yesterday we told you about a woman stabbed to death in her home in Beer Sheva, the main city in Israel's south.

Daniel

She's now been named as Nania Melda. Police arrested her husband on suspicion of the murder. Her youngest son was reportedly in the apartment.

Maya

And the wider picture is grim.

Daniel

It is. Her death brings the number of women murdered in Israel in domestic violence this year to fourteen.

Maya

Fourteen women. That's a number that should stay with people.

Daniel

It should.

Maya

And finally, a film. Prime Minister Netanyahu has ordered a comprehensive investigation into the people who took part in an anti Israel film called NAZA.

Daniel

His office cites concerns about defamation, and damage to Israel's international standing.

Maya

So the government sees this film as part of the campaign against Israel abroad.

Daniel

That's the concern. Israel has spent three years fighting a war on the battlefield, and a second one over its image. The Prime Minister's view is that defaming the country, and its soldiers, has real consequences, and shouldn't be shrugged off.

Maya

And the investigation will show who was behind it.

Daniel

That's the aim.

Maya

So what's worth watching?

Daniel

Haifa. Whether the Health Ministry says benzene levels are down enough to reopen those two schools tomorrow.

Maya

Follow Good Morning, Israel so tomorrow's episode is waiting for you.

Daniel

See you tomorrow morning.