Benjamin Netanyahu to face court as corruption trial begins
After five years facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a public office, the Israeli PM will testify in a corruption trial that could lead to him being imprisoned for up to ten years.
After five years facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a public office, Benjamin Netanyahu is to testify before a court for the first time in a corruption trial that could lead to him being imprisoned for up to ten years.
He takes the witness stand on Tuesday morning local time (early Wednesday AEDT).
The Israeli Prime Minister has been fighting three separate cases centring on claims that he arranged favours for tycoons in exchange for sympathetic media coverage and extravagant gifts.
Mr Netanyahu, 75, denies all charges and has called the case a “stitch-up”.
Nevertheless, the dubious honour of becoming Israel’s first sitting prime minister to testify in a criminal case is a low point in the career of a man who has dominated his nation’s politics for three decades.
Despite having demanded that his predecessor, Ehud Olmert, step down as prime minister when he was faced with criminal charges, Mr Netanyahu has himself refused to resign. Mr Olmert stood down before his indictment, conviction and eventual imprisonment.
Mr Netanyahu’s trial began in 2020 but has been beset by delays as the defence has sought repeatedly to postpone proceedings, citing the security situation stemming from Israel’s involvement in a multifront conflict.
Rivka Friedman-Feldman, the Jerusalem district court judge who convicted Mr Olmert a decade ago, rejected three postponement requests from Netanyahu’s representatives, having granted an application to delay from the summer until December.
The fall of the Assad regime in Syria has prompted more calls for delay from Mr Netanyahu’s supporters. Yesterday (Monday) the three judges presiding over the trial rejected a request by 12 ministers from the National Security Cabinet to delay the prime minister’s testimony, arguing that the court’s demands would cause “severe harm to the state’s security”.
On the recommendation of Shin Bet, Israel’s internal intelligence apparatus, the judges have approved a request to move Mr Netanyahu’s testimony from Jerusalem to an underground hall beneath the Tel Aviv district court.
The prime minister will be questioned by his defence team and then cross-examined by the prosecution over three cases. He was cleared in a fourth case, which concerned the government’s procurement of German-made submarines.
The charges carry a maximum sentence of ten years’ imprisonment.
The Times
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