Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday, as the long-serving leader faces mounting discontent over his
Jerusalem: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial resumed on Sunday, as the long-serving leader faces mounting discontent over his handling of the coronavirus crisis.
Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a series of scandals in which he is alleged to have received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favours with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, painting the accusations as a media-orchestrated witch-hunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.
The trial opened in May.
Just before appearing in front of the judges, Netanyahu took to a podium inside the courthouse and flanked by his party members bashed the country’s legal institutions in an angry tirade.
Netanyahu was not expected to appear at Sunday’s hearing, which is taking place at a Jerusalem court and is mostly a procedural deliberation that will determine the pace at which the trial will proceed.
