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Benjamin Netanyahu has become Israelthe first sitting prime minister to testify as a defendant – after taking the witness stand in his long-running corruption case trial.
Claiming that he had “waited for this moment for eight years” Mr Netanyahu. 75, began what would be numerous courtroom appearances in the coming weeks. He will answer to charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery in three separate cases.
He is testifying at a time when Israel is embroiled in a war in Gaza and faces possible new threats posed by regional turmoil, including in Syria.
Mr. Netanyahu is accused of accepting tens of thousands of dollars worth of cigars and champagne from a Hollywood producer in exchange for favors in personal and business interests. He is also accused of promoting favorable regulations for media moguls in exchange for favorable coverage of himself and his family. He denies all the charges.
“I’ve waited eight years for this moment, to tell the truth,” the prime minister said as he casually appeared on the stand in a packed courtroom, adding that the charges against him were “an ocean of absurdity.”
He said he smoked cigars but could hardly finish them because of his workload, hated champagne, and that early in his career in public service he would lose sleep over media coverage, but learned there was no point in doing so – unlike trying to prosecution to paint him as possessed by the painting.
He took the stand for about four hours and will continue his testimony on Wednesday. Twice his military secretary handed him written messages, the first time requiring a break and stressing that he had to do double duty as prime minister.
Israel waged a war in Gaza for more than a year, during which Mr. Netanyahu was granted a delay in the start of his court appearance. Last Thursday, the judges decided that he must begin testifying. The conflict in Gaza triggered a Hamas attack inside Israel on October 7 last year, during which around 1,200 Israelis were killed and another 251 people were taken hostage.
Israel’s retaliatory ground and air war, along with the blockade, has killed 44,000 Palestinians, most of them women and children, according to health authorities inside the besieged territory. About 90 percent of Gaza’s 2.3 million residents have been driven from their homes.
Ahead of the trial date, Mr Netanyahu revived familiar pre-war rhetoric against law enforcement, describing the investigations against him as a witch hunt. Before the war, Netanyahu’s legal troubles bitterly divided Israelis and rocked Israeli politics through five rounds of elections. His government’s attempt last year to limit the powers of the judiciary further polarized Israelis.
The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Mr. Netanyahu, attacked the Israeli media during his testimony for what he called a left-wing stance and accused journalists of hounding him for years because his policies were inconsistent with the drive to establish a Palestinian state.
“For eight years I have been waiting for this moment to tell the truth,” Netanyahu told the three-judge court. “But I’m also the prime minister… I’m leading the country through a war on seven fronts.” And I think the two can be done in parallel.”
The testimony, which will be held three days a week for several weeks, will take up a significant portion of Mr. Netanyahu’s working time, prompting critics to question whether he can capably govern a country embroiled in a war in Gaza, which contains the fallout of another, and monitoring other potential regional threats, including Syria and Iran.
The trial was held in an underground courtroom, a 15-minute walk from the country’s defense headquarters, after it was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons.
Under Israeli law, accused prime ministers are not required to step down. But the accusations against Netanyahu have torn apart deep divisions in Israel, with protesters calling for him to resign and former political allies refusing to serve in a government with the Israeli leader, sparking a political crisis that has led to five elections in less than four years. starting in 2019
His popular support also declined after the Hamas attack, and the public blamed his leadership for failing to prevent the attack and return the hostages home.
The Israeli leader and his and his former defense chief Yoav Gallant, along with the leader of Hamas, for alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict. Netanyahu called these accusations ridiculous.