Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on three charges related to accepting gifts from millionaire friends and allegedly seeking regulatory favors for media moguls.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will appear in court for the first time in the corruption trial against him. Reuters wrote this on Monday, December 9.
“Perhaps in the coming weeks, Netanyahu will be forced to combine court hearings and work in the military cabinet,” the agency pointed out.
It will be noted that Israel has been at war against the Palestinian group Hamas in Gaza for over a year. Therefore, Netanyahu received a delay in his court hearings. However, the judges have now decided that he must open evidence.
Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week despite the war in Gaza and potential new threats posed by unrest in the Middle East, particularly in neighboring Syria.
As the agency recalls, Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on three charges related to receiving gifts from millionaire friends and allegedly seeking regulatory favors for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage.
Netanyahu himself called the investigation against him a politically motivated prosecution. He maintained his innocence and pleaded not guilty.
“The real threat to democracy in Israel does not come from elected members of the public, but from individuals in law enforcement who refuse to accept the choice of voters and attempt coups because of political investigations that are unacceptable- acceptable in any democracy,” he said in a statement.
The Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the subsequent war in Gaza temporarily sidelined the trial of Netanyahu, which united Israelis. But as the war dragged on, political unity began to break down.
In recent weeks, as fighting on one front subsided following a cease-fire between Israel and Hamas’s Lebanese ally Hezbollah, members of Netanyahu’s government, including the justice and police ministers , has clashed with the judiciary.
Netanyahu, 75, is Israel’s longest-serving prime minister and the first sitting head of the Israeli government to be charged with a crime.
Recall that the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu, his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant and one of the leaders of Hamas for possible war crimes in the Gaza war.
Warrant for Netanyahu: who ordered the ICC to “suicide”
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Source: korrespondent
I am David Wyatt, a professional writer and journalist for Buna Times. I specialize in the world section of news coverage, where I bring to light stories and issues that affect us globally. As a graduate of Journalism, I have always had the passion to spread knowledge through writing.