Netanyahu takes stand in corruption trial

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu took the witness stand for the first time on Tuesday in his long-running corruption trial to give testimony that will likely force him to juggle for weeks between the courtroom and war room.

Netanyahu, 75, is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. He is the country's longest serving leader, having been in power almost consecutively since 2009.

“I have been waiting for eight years for this moment to tell the truth,” Netanyahu told the three judges hearing the case. “But I am also a prime minister…I am leading the country through a seven-front war. And I think the two can be done in parallel.”

He smiled confidently when he entered the Tel Aviv District Court around 10:00 a.m. (0800 GMT). The trial was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons and convened in an underground courtroom, a 15-minute walk from the country's defence headquarters.

Before Netanyahu took the stand, his lawyer Amit Hadad laid out for the judges what the defence maintains are fundamental flaws in the investigation. Prosecutors, Hadad said,“weren’t investigating a crime, they were going after a person.”

A few dozen protesters gathered outside the courthouse, some of them supporters and others demanding he do more to negotiate the release of some 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite the Gaza war and possible new threats posed by wider turmoil in the Middle East, including in neighbouring Syria.

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in three cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable coverage. He denies any wrongdoing.

In the run-up to his court date, Netanyahu revived familiar pre-war rhetoric against law enforcement, describing investigations against him as a witch hunt. He denies the charges and has pleaded not guilty.

His domestic legal woes were compounded last month when the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant for him and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant along with a Hamas leader, for alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict.