AP / December 10, 2024
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to testify in court on Tuesday, facing charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases.
The trial has cast a shadow over Israel’s longest-serving prime minister as the war in Gaza grinds on. Netanyahu has repeatedly requested to delay his testimony because of the conflicts roiling the Middle East but was mostly denied by the courts.
The long-running trial comes as Netanyahu is already facing accusations by critics in Israel of dragging out the war in Gaza and putting off a ceasefire deal that could release some 100 hostages who remain in the territory after 14 months of war triggered by the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, 2023.
The Justice Ministry announced the indictments in the three cases in 2019, after years of investigations. This is the first time that Netanyahu will testify in the trial, which began in May 2020, though he has previously appeared in court.
The scandals have engulfed Netanyahu’s family and his inner circle, with at least three former close confidants testifying against him. The prime minister has denied any wrongdoing, casting the charges as a witch hunt by hostile media, police and prosecutors.
Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, have earned a reputation in Israel for enjoying an expensive lifestyle at the public’s expense.
He is expected to testify for weeks. However, a verdict isn’t anticipated until 2026. If convicted, Netanyahu could appeal and take the case to the Supreme Court, further prolonging a resolution.
Here’s a look at the three main cases concerning the prime minister:
Telecom trade-off
The most damaging case against Netanyahu involves an influence-peddling scandal in which two former aides have testified against him on suspicions of promoting regulation worth hundreds of millions of dollars to Israel’s Bezeq telecom company. In return, Bezeq’s popular news site, Walla, allegedly provided favourable coverage of Netanyahu and his family.
Nir Hefetz, a former Netanyahu family spokesman, and Shlomo Filber, the former director of the Communications Ministry under Netanyahu, cut deals with prosecutors after they were arrested along with Bezeq’s controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitch, his wife, son and other top Bezeq executives. Former journalists at the Walla news site have attested to being pressured to refrain from negative reporting of Netanyahu. The charges here include bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Lavish gifts
In the second case, Netanyahu is accused of accepting nearly $200,000 in gifts from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.
Prosecutors say that in return for what has been dubbed a “supply line” of jewellery, expensive cigars and champagne, Netanyahu lobbied on Milchan’s behalf on U.S. visa matters, tried to legislate a generous tax break for him and sought to promote his interests in the Israeli media market.
The indictment says Packer, who reportedly sought Israeli residency status for tax purposes, also gave Netanyahu champagne and cigars. Netanyahu has said all he received were gifts from friends. Another former aide, Ari Harow, is a state witness in this case. The charges include fraud and breach of trust.
Media meddling
Netanyahu is also alleged to have offered a newspaper publisher legislation that would weaken his paper’s main rival in return for more favourable coverage.
Netanyahu reportedly was recorded asking Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the Yediot Ahronot daily, for positive coverage in exchange for helping to weaken Israel Hayom, a free pro-Netanyahu newspaper that had cut into Yediot’s business.
Israel Hayom is financed by Netanyahu’s late American billionaire friend Sheldon Adelson and largely serves as a mouthpiece for the prime minister. Netanyahu has noted that a proposed law to weaken Israel Hayom never passed and that he had even dissolved his coalition and called a new election in 2015 because of his opposition to the proposal. Harow is a state witness in this case, too.
According to TV reports based on leaked police investigations, Adelson’s wife also testified that Sara Netanyahu exerted pressure on her to provide gifts and favourable media coverage. The charges include fraud and breach of trust.
