A shocking new documentary is blowing the lid off the corruption investigation that has rocked Israeli politics and, according to the film, pushed the region to the brink of war. The Bibi Files, which premiered at the Toronto and New York film festivals, contains explosive leaked footage of police interrogations of Israel’s long-serving prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu.
Inside the Interrogation Room
The tapes, recorded between 2016 and 2018, show an unusually cornered Netanyahu being grilled by police over allegations he traded political favors for lavish gifts and positive media coverage. Snippets reveal the normally poised leader projecting a range of emotions – derision, bewilderment, boredom, and flashes of terror when presented with seemingly damning evidence.
His wife Sara also lashes out, screaming that her husband is “treated like a king” wherever he travels. Their son Yair, rumored to be groomed as a successor, spews contempt at interrogators, comparing them to the Gestapo.
Tycoons Under Pressure
Equally riveting are scenes of Israel’s wealthiest elites squirming as they’re questioned about extravagant gifts allegedly given to curry favor with the Netanyahus. One tycoon purportedly scored a U.S. visa after the PM’s direct appeal to then-Secretary of State John Kerry. Another may have dodged bankruptcy thanks to Netanyahu’s intervention.
Journalist as Chorus
Israeli journalist Raviv Drucker, a veteran Netanyahu investigator and the film’s co-producer, acts as a de facto narrator, chronicling the leader’s alleged slide into corruption and extremism. Drucker says if he had foreseen the consequences, he would have buried the investigations to stave off disaster.
“If you had taken me through some kind of time tunnel and shown me where we are in 2024, I would have told you: ‘Just don’t start with these cases.’ I would throw all of them in the garbage.”
– Raviv Drucker, co-producer of The Bibi Files
From Scandal to War
The film argues that the looming indictment backed Netanyahu into a corner, forcing him to partner with far-right extremists to hold onto power and delay his trial. This resulted in Israel’s most hard-line government ever, diverting military resources from guarding against Hamas to supporting West Bank settlers. The weakened southern front was all the invitation the militants needed to strike, igniting the current devastating war.
Sources say Netanyahu is now locked into prosecuting the war to avoid a truce deal that could bring down his government and land him in court. With the region in flames and Israel’s democracy in crisis, Drucker’s corruption investigation has become almost a footnote, a painful irony not lost on the journalist.
“Now we are stuck in such a terrible mess in Israel. Our whole foundation is rocking every day beneath our feet. Now all we want is to live without the sirens and having to take our kids to air raid shelters.”
– Raviv Drucker
The Bibi Files pulls back the curtain on a political scandal of seismic proportions, revealing the human frailties and alleged misdeeds at the highest echelons of power. More chillingly, it shines a light on how personal corruption can metastasize into national catastrophe and regional war. As the conflict rages with no end in sight, this explosive film becomes more relevant by the day.
