Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed corruption charges against him as ‘ridiculous’ in court on Tuesday, becoming the country’s first sitting premier to face criminal trial.
Israeli media called it a “historic day” as Mr Netanyahu faced charges of bribery, fraud and breach of public trust in three separate cases while running a country at war.
But Mr Netanyahu rejected the charges, saying: “There’s no corruption, no fraud. It is just ridiculous.”
He also lashed out at the media during almost a full day of testimony, saying most of the Israeli public was right-wing but the media was “98 per cent on the other side”.
The trial has already heard from various witnesses, including former close aides of Mr Netanyahu who testified against him.
Asked how much the charges bothered him, he said: “If I tell you it’s a drop in the ocean that would be an exaggeration”.
“I’m busy with matters of world importance.”
On Monday, at a press conference, he said he had been waiting for years to present his side.
“It has been eight years that I have waited for this day, eight years of wanting to present the truth, eight years waiting to completely demolish these absurd and baseless accusations against me,” he said, labelling the cases a “relentless witch hunt”.
Outside the court supporters of the prime minister chanted “Netanyahu, the people support you”, while protesters chanted “Bibi to prison”.
“If, at the end of the trial, it is determined that Mr Netanyahu be sent to prison, then he must go to prison,” said Sarah Kritzman, a psychologist protesting outside the court.
“I don’t think there should be any plea bargain or any kind of pardon just because he is the prime minister.”
The trial, which has been delayed many times since it began in May 2020, is scheduled to last for months, with an appeals process that could further prolong matters.
Mr Netanyahu, who filed multiple requests to delay the proceedings based on the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, has steadfastly denied any wrongdoing.
In the first case, Mr Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.
Among the alleged benefactors are Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian business executive James Packer.
The other two cases allege that Mr Netanyahu attempted to negotiate more favourable coverage in two Israeli media outlets.
One involves alleged attempts by the prime minister to reach a deal with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the popular Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, for better coverage by agreeing to weaken the status of a rival daily newspaper.
The other alleges Mr Netanyahu received favourable coverage on the popular news website Walla, owned by his close friend Shaul Elovitch, in exchange for smoothing the way for a telecoms merger sought by Elovitch.
Since returning to power in late 2022, Mr Netanyahu’s coalition government has clashed with the country’s judiciary and law enforcement officials and sparked mass protests by trying to advance legislation that would weaken the courts.
Mr Netanyahu’s critics insist the legal cases will finally serve justice to a highly corrupt politician who will do anything to stay in power.
They also accuse him of intentionally prolonging the 14-month conflicts in Gaza and Lebanon to evade justice.
Yohanan Plesner, president of the Israel Democracy Institute, said the lengthy and divisive trial had now reached “an important milestone”.
Mr Netanyahu, he said, not only faced a conflict of interest being both prime minister and a criminal defendant, but the trial was “putting him in direct confrontation with important institutions in the state, especially the justice ministry”.
On Monday, around a dozen ministers in Mr Netanyahu’s coalition sent a letter to attorney general Gali Baharav-Miara requesting the trial be postponed considering events in Syria and the overall security situation.
The letter followed similar calls by ministers and requests from the prime minister’s legal team to postpone his testimony because of Israel’s wars and his busy schedule.
The prosecution has argued that it is in the public interest for the trial to conclude as quickly as possible and the court has denied all such petitions, although it has agreed to begin trial days slightly later and occasionally reduce the hearings from three to two days a week due to the prime minister’s work.
Other Israeli leaders have been convicted in criminal cases, including former prime minister Ehud Olmert who resigned before his trial began, but Mr Netanyahu is the first to take the stand as sitting prime minister.
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