Tel Aviv, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand Tuesday in his long-running trial for alleged corruption, announcing what is expected to be a week-long trial that will draw unwanted attention to the problems. He is legally against an international arrest warrant for war crimes and the fighting in Gaza continues. It is the first time that an Israeli prime minister has appeared as a criminal defendant, an embarrassing milestone for a leader who has tried to cultivate an image as a distinguished and distinguished statesman.
As he began his testimony, Netanyahu said “hello” to the judges. One judge told him he had the same privileges as other witnesses and could sit or stand as he pleased.
“I waited eight years for this moment, to tell the truth,” Netanyahu said, standing at a podium in a packed Tel Aviv courtroom. He called the charges against him “a sea of nonsense” and promised that his version would cut the prosecution's case.
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Netanyahu appeared relaxed as he began to tell his version of events and share personal details about his life that could hopefully shape the judges' opinion of him. He said he used to lose sleep over the media, but learned it had no effect on him – compared to the prosecution's attempts to paint him as a figurehead.
He said he smoked cigars but could barely finish them because of his workload, but he hated champagne. One case revolves around receiving a “supply line” of cigars and champagne from billionaire associates.
His lawyer asked that he be allowed to take notes while testifying to ensure that he can continue to run the country.
Netanyahu will answer when he appears in court to charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.
He is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigarettes and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for his help with personal and business interests. He is also accused of promoting lucrative management for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage for himself and his family.
Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a witch hunt orchestrated by a hostile media and a biased legal system out to rule him. long to apply. His testimony ends years of scandal that has surrounded him and his family.
The testimony, which is set to take place six hours a day, three days a week for several weeks, will take up a large chunk of Netanyahu's working hours, prompting critics to ask whether a country can who are engaged in a war to manage effectively on one front, including what is coming out of a second, and keeping an eye on other possible regional threats, which bring in from Iran or recently the fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria.
Netanyahu, in his testimony, said he could “find a balance” between the two commitments.
Dozens of people gathered outside the court in Tel Aviv, some protesting against Netanyahu, including family members of hostages held in Gaza, as well as a group of supporters. his A banner in front of the court read: “Minister of Crime.”
Under Israeli law, impeached prime ministers are not required to resign. But the accusations against Netanyahu opened deep divisions in Israel, with activists calling for his resignation and former political allies refusing to serve in government with the Israeli leader, sparking a political crisis that led to five elections in less than four years starting in 2019. the political upheaval just two years ago by coming to an agreement with smaller right-wing parties that had been far on the fringes of Israeli politics, until creating the most far-reaching government in the country ever.
Netanyahu's supporters view the allegations as biased and overreaching in the justice system, while his opponents have accused him of escalating the raging war in Gaza. the attempt to distract, if not delay, his own court cases. Netanyahu launched the war on the Hamas rulers in Gaza right after they carried out their brutal October 7, 2023 attack on Israel, killing around 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Despite the pressure, the polarizing Netanyahu has refused calls to resign and has used his position as prime minister to silence law enforcement, the media and courts.
An Israeli court rejected a request by Netanyahu's lawyers to reduce the expected hours of testimony, as well as several other requests to delay the start, which they said were necessary because of the prime minister's busy schedule and the country's great challenges. A decision is not expected until 2026 at the earliest and Netanyahu will have the option of appealing to the Supreme Court.
The court has spent months hearing prosecution witnesses in all three cases, including some of Netanyahu's closest aides who have turned state witnesses. The prosecutors have tried to portray the prime minister as a leader with an image who broke the law in order to improve his public opinion.
The most serious case against Netanyahu involves a scandal affecting him in which two of his closest aides are testifying against him on suspicions of a management promotion worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the Israeli telecommunications company Bezeq. In turn, popular news site Bezeq, Walla, reportedly provided favorable coverage of Netanyahu and his family.
Netanyahu is also said to have introduced legislation to a newspaper publisher that would weaken his paper's main competitor in return for more favorable coverage.
In addition, the Prime Minister is accused of taking nearly $200,000 in champagne and cigarettes from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and in exchange for that, he said. allegedly acting on Milchan's behalf on US visa issues, tried to legislate him generous tax breaks and tried to promote his interests in the Israeli media market.
Netanyahu's testimony could damage his image at a complicated time for Israel's longest-serving leader. His popular support plummeted after a Hamas attack in October 2023, with the public blaming his leadership for failing to stop the attack, and if elections were held today opinion polls suggest it would be difficult for him to form another new government.
Israel continues to fight Hamas in Gaza with no end in sight, despite massive international pressure to end the war, as well as pressure from the families of hostages still in Gaza and the supporters to bring their loved ones home.
The Israeli leader, along with his former defense minister, also opposes his arrest warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes accusations related to the war in Gaza, which his office has rejected as “absurd and false actions and accusations”.
