Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu on Tuesday morning arrived at the Tel Aviv District Court, where the trial was moved from Jerusalem for security reasons, to testify at his corruption trial, the first time in Israeli history that a sitting prime minister testified at his own trial.

At a press conference on Monday evening, Netanyahu addressed claims that he wants to evade a trial. “Do I want to evade a trial? Nonsense. I have been waiting for this day for 8 years, to blow up the baseless accusations. There was no offense, so they searched for an offense.”

He repeated the same sentiment on Tuesday morning, saying: “I waited 8 years for this moment, to tell the truth. The truth as I remember it. which is also important for justice. There is no justice without truth.”

“This is the opportunity to refute the ridiculous charges against me,” Netanyahu continued, calling the charges “an ocean of absurdity” and saying that if he acted in accordance with the leftist agenda, he wouldn’t be there. He specifically addressed the claim that he received bribes as “complete lies,” saying that he hates champagne and never drinks it and although he sometimes smokes cigars,  his schedule of 17-18 hour work days, often until 2 a.m, leaves him little time to indulge in food, drink or cigars.

“I eat my meals at my desk and I never get to finish a cigar because I’m always interrupted,” he said, emphasizing that since October 7, he runs from meeting to meeting. “If only I could steal away five minutes to spend some time with my wife,” he said, adding that he never has time to see his children.

Netanyahu also slammed the fact that he is being forced to testify all day three times a week, an unprecedented demand, while Israel is at war and facing recent new security challenges in the wake of the fall of the Syrian regime.

Netanyahu is taking the stand amid a positive legal slant after his defense attorney Amit Hadad over the past year significantly undermined the foundations on which most of the prosecution’s claims rested.

Hadad and his team’s main success was challenging the credibility of the key witnesses as the state witnesses’ testimonies formed a central part of the prosecution’s evidence. In cross-examinations, the defense succeeded in portraying the witnesses as unreliable, whether due to contradictions in their testimonies, pressures exerted on them during the signing of state witness agreements, or due to the exposure of personal interests or conflicts with Netanyahu. This move created doubts regarding the strength of the evidence based on their testimonies.

In addition, the defense raised claims about substantive flaws in the investigation process, including the use of improper pressure on witnesses and inadequate documentation of the investigations. These claims raised questions among the judges and caused some of the evidence to be called into question.

Another successful move by the defense was reinterpreting circumstantial evidence. Netanyahu is accused of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, but the defense succeeded in presenting an alternative interpretation of the correspondence and recordings presented by the prosecution.

In many cases, the broader context was shown, indicating that the actions attributed to Netanyahu could have been completely legal or at least ambiguous in terms of proving criminal intent.

A protest against the judicial system and in support of Netanyahu was held outside the courtroom before the trial. Additionally, many politicians showed up at the courtroom to support Netanyahu, including Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana, Ministers Miri Regev, May Golan, Shlomo Karhi, Idit Silman, and Itamar Ben-Gvir, and about eight Likud and Otzma Yehudit MKs.

MK Simcha Rothman, the head of the Knesset’s Law Committee, slammed the judicial system ahead of the trial: “We have a law enforcement system that has long lost its way. The whole world has begun to understand that there is a problematic system here with corruption at its core in these cases, and we are all obligated to repair this.”

Minister Shlomo Karhi stated: “Prime Minister Netanyahu is arriving for a hearing today not as a defendant, but as an accuser. We are witnessing the collapse of the cases one after another, even before a single defense witness has taken the stand.”

“B’ezrat Hashem, the truth will come to light and justice will prevail. And we will all see how the house of cards built by the prosecution collapses before its eyes, revealing the truth in its entirety.”

“The decision to force the Prime Minister of Israel to testify no less than three days a week in the midst of a war is intolerable. When the judges want to go to a party of the Bar Association in Eilat, there is no problem canceling hearings, but here, when Am Yisrael needs their Prime Minister to bring about complete victory and return the hostages home, there is no response.”

“Since the investigations began, the people have repeatedly proven at the polls that they believe in the Prime Minister and support him, and even persecution and framed cases will not change that. I wished the Prime Minister before he entered the hearing: ״כָּל כְּלִי יוּצַר עָלַיִךְ לֹא יִצְלָח וְכָל לָשׁוֹן תָּקוּם אִתָּךְ לַמִּשְׁפָּט – תַּרְשִׁיעִי״. Everything will be turned about, B’ezrat Hashem, against those who are trying to forcibly replace the government.”

Transportation Minister Miri Regev said: “It’s disgraceful that Netanyahu is forced to testify during one of the most complex wars Israel has faced, a war imposed on us on seven fronts. A prime minister on the witness stand during wartime, in an attempt to humiliate and degrade him, is a blow to the country’s security. Who does this spectacle serve? Iran, Syria, Lebanon. And then people ask why public trust in the judiciary is eroding. This is why—because people see selective enforcement, they see a political witch hunt against Netanyahu.”

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)