Tel Aviv, Israel – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu went on trial Tuesday in his long-running trial for alleged corruption in what is expected to be a week-long spectacle that could draw unacceptable attention to his criminal woes as He faces a world arrest warrant for conflict crimes. Fighting continues in GazaThis is the first time a sitting Israeli top minister has been indicted as a legal defendant, an embarrassing milestone for a leader who has tried to establish an image as an innovative and respected politician.
Upon scheduling his testimony, Netanyahu said “Hello” to the judges. A judge instructed them that they had the same privileges as alternate observers and could take a seat or stand up as they chose.
“To tell you the truth, I waited eight years for this moment,” Netanyahu said as he stood on the stage in front of a packed Tel Aviv court. He called his copy costs “an ocean of absurdity” and promised that his model would be scaled down during the prosecution’s case.
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Netanyahu seemed relieved when he began laying out his model of events and sharing non-public information about his future, which he hoped would make the judges lose confidence in him. He said he lost leave over media coverage, but found it had no meaningful impact – contrary to the prosecution’s attempts to portray him as image-obsessed.
He said he smokes cigars but is rarely able to finish them due to his workload, but he hates champagne. One case revolves around obtaining a “supply line” of cigars and poo from billionaire friends.
His lawyer requested that he be allowed to receive the note in the future to ensure that he can continue to work in the country.
Netanyahu will answer to charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases during his court appearance.
He is accused of accepting thousands of dollars worth of cigars and poo from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for helping with non-public and industrial activities. He is also accused of selling good laws to media moguls in exchange for favorable security for himself and his society.
Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a plot by an unfavorable media and a biased criminal apparatus to topple his long rule. His testimony includes years of experience with the scandals that swirled around him and his society.
The testimony, designed to remove the playing field from life for six hours, three days and several weeks, will take up a significant fraction of Netanyahu’s working hours, prompting critics to ask whether he would be in a quandary. Can lead a troubled country competently. gateway, including the outcome of the second day, and keeping an eye on other possible regional ultimatums, including Iran or hot Fall of longtime dictator Bashar al-Assad in neighboring Syria,
Netanyahu noted in his testimony that he could “find a balance” between each sustainability.
Dozens of people gathered outside the court in Tel Aviv, some protesting against Netanyahu, including a group of hostage society members and their supporters in Gaza. A banner hung in front of the courtroom read: “Minister of Crime.”
Under Israeli law, convicted senior ministers are not required to stand trial. However, the allegations against Netanyahu deepened divisions in Israel, with protesters pushing hard for his surrender and former political allies refusing to join a government with the Israeli leader, leading to a political crisis that led to Five elections were held in less than four years, starting in 2019. Only two years ago the political turmoil was overcome by a compromise with small right-wing parties that had long been on the fringes of Israeli politics. Form the country’s far right government Sometimes.
Netanyahu’s supporters see the charges as the result of favoritism and overreach by the justice system, while his fighters accuse him of escalating the ongoing war in Gaza to divert attention from his own personal court cases. Netanyahu immediately launched a war on Gaza’s Hamas rulers, then launched a brutal terrorist attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, killing nearly 1,200 people and taking 251 others hostage.
Despite such power, the polarizing Netanyahu has resorted to uncalled for steps and has taken his position as prime minister to attack law enforcement, the media and the courts.
An Israeli court rejected a request by Netanyahu’s lawyers to extend the hours of expected testimony, as well as several alternative requests to extend its start, which they said were important due to the prime minister’s busy schedule. And important auspicious conditions of rural areas. A decision is not expected until 2026 at the earliest, and Netanyahu will have the opportunity to appeal to the Supreme Court.
The court has spent months hearing from prosecution observers in three cases, including some of Netanyahu’s close associates who became order observers. The prosecution has attempted to portray the prime minister as an image-obsessed leader who violated the law to bolster his population’s trust.
The most dangerous case against Netanyahu is the influence-peddling scandal, in which two of his former closest aides have testified against him on suspicion of selling millions of dollars of legal value to Israel’s Bezeq telecom company. Go back to Bezeq’s continuous information website, Walla, Reportedly provided favorable coverage to Netanyahu And his society.
It is conceivable that Netanyahu has introduced a newspaper writers law that could weaken his newspaper’s primary rival in exchange for additional favorable protections.
Additionally, the Prime Minister is accused of accepting approximately $200,000 in champagne and cigars from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and, in return, he Allegedly operated on behalf of Milchan On US visa matters, attempted to create a generous tax break law for them and sought to promote their interests in the Israeli media market.
Netanyahu’s testimony could further tarnish his image as Israel’s longest-serving leader. His continued support diminished after a Hamas attack in October 2023, the population blamed his management for failing to ban the attack, and if elections were held nowadays, polls suggest he would have defeated any other unelected executive. Will try to bring it into mode.
Israel is fighting Hamas in Gaza without any visible signs, despite the overwhelming world force to stop the conflict, and is calling on the families of those still held hostage in Gaza and their supporters to force their family members back home. Can be sent. ,
Israeli leader and his former defense minister also face arrest Warrant from the International Criminal Court for war crimes Fee is similar to the conflict in Gaza, which his workplace has ignored as “absurd and false actions and allegations”.
