by Admin
Dec 10, 2024
History was made on Tuesday in Tel Aviv when Benjamin Netanyahu became Israel’s first sitting prime minister to be arraigned for criminal charges. The prime minister was charged with corruption in a court hearing.
The prime minister was arraigned on corruption allegations ranging from bribery to fraudulent government activities. He is up against three separate cases of corruption filed in 2019: Case 1000, Case 2000, and Case 4000, which include allegations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
The court hearing has been postponed on several occasions due to the refusal of the prime minister to appear before the court as the first Israeli sitting prime minister to face criminal prosecution in which his former close associates made some of the charges against him.
The court case began in May 2020 but has been postponed by the Prime Minister’s legal team for different reasons. The Israeli Supreme Court rejected the counsel’s appeal on November 13 a request for a 10-week delay in his testimony hearing, saying he had had five months to prepare.
The hearing drew a lot of interest from the public from supporters of the prime minister and the anti-Netanyahu movement in attendance while some of the right-wing lawmakers also attended the court proceedings. Some of the supporters of the Prime Minister were chanting slogans such as “ Netanyahu, the people support you” while the anti-Netanyahu protesters chanted slogans such as “Netanyahu, the criminal”.
The hearing was held in an underground chambers of the court due to security measures which had been high between the two opposition factions since it was announced that the prime minister would be summoned by the court on corruption charges and abuse of office.
The prime minister had earlier condemned the allegations against him and called it a political move to sabotage his political career and his integrity as the Prime Minister of the country in a move to undermine his position by the opposition party.
He said “It has been eight years that I have waited for this day, eight years of wanting to present the truth, eight years waiting to completely demolish these absurd and baseless accusations against me,” he said, labeling it a “relentless witch hunt”.
In one of the bribery cases, the prime minister was accused of receiving material bribes worth $186,000 according to a statement made by Mandelblit following the indictment, and were given to Netanyahu.
However, Benjamin Netanyahu denied all allegations against him and said “Had I wanted good coverage all I would have had to have done would be to signal toward a two-state solution… Had I moved two steps to the left I would have been hailed”.
The judge has ruled that the Prime Minister is expected to appear in court three times a week which means he would be required to shuffle his responsibilities as a prime minister and as a citizen of the country to ensure the upholding of the law.