Egypt Daily News – Netanyahu attacked the media while giving testimony in his corruption trial and denied accusations that he sought favorable news coverage. Trial highlights popular division and political confusion in Israel. The start of his appearance before the court came after a postponement due to the Gaza war.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu made his statements in front of a court in Tel Aviv on Tuesday (December 10, 2024) for the first time in his long-running corruption trial, and said that he was being targeted by the media because of his hard-line security policies.
Netanyahu (75 years old), who has held power almost continuously since 2009, is the longest-serving leader in Israeli history and the first prime minister in office to be accused of crimes. Netanyahu’s statement comes at a time when Israel is fighting a war in Gaza and unrest in the region, including in neighboring Syria.
The court said that Netanyahu, who is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, must give statements three times a week, which will force him to move between the courtroom and the Defense Ministry’s war management room, minutes away from the court’s headquarters.
Netanyahu, leader of the right-wing Likud Party, attacked the Israeli media because of what he described as its left-wing position, and accused journalists of targeting him for years because his policies are not consistent with the push toward establishing a Palestinian state. Netanyahu told the three judges involved in the case, “I have waited eight years until this moment to tell the truth… but I am also a prime minister… leading the country in a war on seven fronts. I believe that I am capable of reconciling the two tasks.”
Prosecutors accuse Netanyahu of granting regulatory benefits worth 1.8 billion shekels (about $500 million) to Bezeq Telecom Israel in exchange for positive news coverage about him and his wife, Sarah, on a news website run by the company’s former president.
Netanyahu is also accused of negotiating a deal with the owner of the Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth to obtain positive news coverage in exchange for passing legislation that would slow the growth of a competing newspaper. Netanyahu denied the accusations against him and pleaded his innocence. He stood inside the witness stand and did not sit throughout his testimony in the morning.
“If I wanted good coverage, all I had to do was point to the two-state solution,” he said. “If I had moved two steps to the left, I would have been praised.” He portrayed himself in long answers as a strong defender of Israel’s security, and that he was resisting pressure from international powers and hostile local media.
Trial in an underground court
Netanyahu was smiling when he entered the Tel Aviv Criminal Court at approximately 10 a.m. (08:00 GMT). The trial was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons, and was held in an underground courtroom. Before Netanyahu gave his statement, his lawyer, Amit Haddad, presented to the judges what the defense considered fundamental flaws in the investigation. Haddad said prosecutors “were not investigating a crime, but rather targeting a person.”
A few dozen protesters gathered outside, some of whom supported him and others demanding that he make more efforts to negotiate the release of about 100 hostages still being held in Gaza. During the war in the Gaza Strip, more than a year ago, Netanyahu was allowed to postpone the start of his appearance before the court. But judges decided last Thursday, 12/05/2024, that the Prime Minister must begin making his statements.
Netanyahu was charged in 2019 in three cases related to gifts from millionaire friends and seeking to grant regulatory benefits to media moguls in exchange for preferential news coverage. Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing. In the run-up to his trial, Netanyahu returned to familiar pre-war rhetoric against law enforcement, describing the investigations against him as a crackdown. He denies the accusations and maintains that he is not guilty.
Popular divisions and political confusion
Before the war, Netanyahu’s legal problems led to a deep division among Israelis and confounded Israeli politics during five rounds of elections. His government’s attempt last year in 2023 to limit the powers of the judiciary also further divided Israelis. The Gaza war took Netanyahu’s trial out of public attention in Israel, where Israelis were united in grief and shock. But as the war continued, political unity collapsed.
In the past few weeks, after the fighting on the Lebanese front calmed down, a conflict erupted between members of Netanyahu’s government – including the ministers of justice and police – and the judiciary. His domestic legal problems worsened last month when the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant on charges of committing war crimes in the Gaza war.
