Nine months after his first appearance, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday (February 8) again rejected the corruption charges against him during a brief appearance in court in Jerusalem. With a black sanitary mask on the lower face, Mr. Netanyahu remained for about twenty minutes in the courtroom of the court, where he is on trial on charges of corruption, fraud and breach of trust in three cases, at six crucial election weeks for its political survival
“I approve the response written on my behalf”, said the Israeli prime minister, referring to a letter written by his lawyers and presented to justice in January, that he is not guilty. The longevity record holder for an Israeli prime minister, with fifteen years in office, 71-year-old Netanyahu is the first head of government in Israel’s history to be tried while in office. Outside the courthouse, dozens of demonstrators protested against the prime minister, calling for his departure. “Get out”, “You shall not steal”, could we read on banners.
Benyamin Netanyahu had denounced charges “Ridiculous” at the opening, in May 2020, of this trial. His lawyers then asked the courts for a period of several months to study the evidence against him.
Cigars, champagne and jewelry
In the Bezeq file, also known as the “4,000 file”, Mr. Netanyahu is accused of trying to secure favorable coverage by the Walla site in exchange for government favors, which could have brought in millions of dollars to Shaul Elovitch , then boss of Israeli telecoms giant Bezeq, of which Walla is a member.
At the heart of the matter is the merger in 2015 of Bezeq with the satellite television distributor Yes, which required the approval of the supervisory authorities. At the time, Mr. Netanyahu also held the communications portfolio. While he maintained that the Bezeq-Yes merger was relevant, he also maintained that he did not seek favorable coverage from the Walla site in exchange for his approval.
In a second dossier, called “Mediagate” or “2000 dossier”, the prime minister is accused of having sought to secure favorable coverage of the most widely read paid daily in Israel, the Yediot Aharonot, in exchange for a possible law limiting the distribution of the free newspaper Israel Hayom, its main competitor. According to justice, Mr. Nétanyahu evoked this exchange (favorable cover against law) with the boss of Yediot, Arnon Moses. In the end, no agreement was reached.
In a third case, the “1000 case”, Mr. Netanyahu and members of his family are suspected of having received gifts: luxury cigars, bottles of champagne and jewelry – for more than 700,000 shekels (177,000 euros ) -, from personalities, including producer Arnon Milchan, in exchange for financial or personal favors. Mr. Netanyahu said he received a legal opinion from experts concluding that he was entitled to accept gifts from close friends, including Arnon Milchan, and denies granting any favors.
A possible “interference in the elections”
During his first appearance, Mr. Netanyahu had just formed a unity government with his rival Benny Gantz. But since then, the protests against the Prime Minister – whom the protesters call the “Crime minister” (“Minister of Crime”) – multiplied, and the ruling coalition broke.
As a result, Mr. Netanyahu’s trial is relaunched with forty-five days of new elections (scheduled for March 23) – the fourth in less than two years – which raises fears about a possible impact on the vote. Yariv Levin, speaker of the Knesset and close to Mr. Netanyahu, said on Sunday in the Israel Hayom fear a “Unprecedented interference by the judicial system in the elections” if the court presented ” now “ his evidence against the Prime Minister.
This new electoral battle is also far from being won for Mr. Netanyahu, who hopes to rally a majority of seats in order, perhaps, to vote for judicial immunity concerning him. According to the latest polls, his party, Likud, remains in pole position in voting intentions, with 29 out of 120 seats, ahead of centrist Yaïr Lapid (17 seats) and right-wing rebel Gideon Saar (14 seats). But the Likud would not manage to reach, with its various allies, the threshold of the majority.
