JERUSALEM: Benjamin Netanyahu, the primary sitting prime minister of Israel to face a prison trial, is predicted to testify for the primary time when his corruption case resumes on Tuesday (Dec 10).
Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to delay his look in court docket, the place he faces expenses of bribery, fraud and breach of public belief in three separate instances.
At Tuesday’s listening to, the Israeli premier is predicted to take the witness stand for the primary time, responding to the allegations and testimonies made towards him, together with from former shut aides.
The final time he bodily appeared within the courtroom was in June 2023.
“I’ll converse in court docket. I’m not working away,” Netanyahu stated at a press convention on Monday night.
“It has been eight years that I’ve waited for today, eight years of desirous to current the reality, eight years ready to fully demolish these absurd and baseless accusations towards me,” the premier declared, once more denouncing what he referred to as a “relentless witch hunt”.
For safety causes, the trial has been moved from Jerusalem to Tel Aviv, the place Netanyahu will testify in an underground chamber.
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The trial, which has been ongoing since Could 2020, is scheduled to final for a number of months, with an appeals course of that might additional delay issues.
The prime minister, who filed a number of requests to delay the proceedings on the idea of the wars in Gaza and Lebanon, denies any wrongdoing.
Within the first case, Netanyahu and his spouse, Sara, are accused of accepting greater than US$260,000 price of luxurious items corresponding to cigars, jewelry and champagne from billionaire benefactors, in trade for political favours.
Among the many alleged benefactors are Israeli-born Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian enterprise govt James Packer.
