Netanyahu: First Israeli Prime Minister to Stand Trial
December 11, 2024For the first time in Israel’s history, its prime minister is on trial. On December 10, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial. Facing criminal charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in three separate cases, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite the Gaza war and possible new threats posed by wider turmoil in the Middle East, including in neighboring Syria. He denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.
Netanyahu, 75, has been widely accused of using Israel’s various regional wars as a way of either avoiding giving evidence in the trial or even ending it completely.
Last month he reportedly asked Shin Bet, Israel’s internal security agency, to help him get out of testifying, arguing that it would be a security risk for him to be in a known location for an extended period.
Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite Israel’s war on Gaza, the fragile ceasefire in Lebanon and its incursions into Syria.
Before Israel’s war on Gaza began in the wake of the 7 October Hamas-led attacks, Netanyahu’s legal troubles bitterly divided Israelis and shook the country’s politics through five rounds of elections.
His government’s bid last year to curb powers of the judiciary further polarised Israelis, but the shock of the Hamas-led attacks and the ensuing war swept Netanyahu’s trial off the public agenda as the country united.
In recent weeks, though, members of Netanyahu’s cabinet have clashed with Israel’s judiciary and the International Criminal Court (ICC) has heaped further legal jeopardy onto Netanyahu by issuing arrest warrants for him and his former defence minister, Yoav Gallant.
Both men are charged by the ICC with alleged war crimes.
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