Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Court
Tel Aviv: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu testified in the courtroom for the first time on Tuesday in his long-running trial on alleged corruption charges. This comes as he faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes and as fighting continues in Gaza. This marked the first time that a sitting Israeli prime minister stood in the courtroom and testified as a criminal defendant.
What happened in the court?
Netanyahu said ‘hello’ to the judges as he began testifying. A judge told him he had the same privileges as other witnesses and could sit or stand as he wished. “I have waited for this moment for eight years to tell the truth,” Netanyahu said in the dock in a packed Tel Aviv court. He described the charges against him as “a storehouse of absurdity” and promised that his statement would The prosecution will end its case.
Israel PM Benjamin Netanyahu in Court
What did Netanyahu say?
Netanyahu appeared comfortable as he began describing the events. He shared personal details about his life. Contrary to prosecutors’ efforts to portray him as a self-governing personality, Netanyahu said he lost sleep over the media coverage, but he learned it had no meaningful impact. He said he smokes cigars but can barely finish them because of his workload and that he hates champagne.
Netanyahu has been accused of corruption
Benjamin Netanyahu is accused of accepting thousands of dollars worth of cigars and champagne from a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for favors in personal and business interests. He is also accused of promoting favorable regulation for media magnates in exchange for favorable coverage of himself and his family. Netanyahu, 75, denies wrongdoing, saying the charges are a plot by a hostile media and a biased legal system to end his long rule. (AP)
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