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On Monday, an Israeli court set the date for the start of the witness hearing during the April 5 trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on corruption charges.
Netanyahu, the first prime minister to face official accusations while in office, faces charges of accepting luxury gifts and seeking to grant regulatory facilities to influential media outlets in exchange for positive media coverage.
In a brief session on February 8, during which he appeared before a Jerusalem court, Netanyahu denied the corruption charges against him, and his defense attorney, Israeli attorney general Avichai Mandelblit, whom Netanyahu appointed to his post. , was charged. mishandling of the file.
The two lawyers indicated that the investigation lacks, in part, the necessary permits.
The judges confirmed that they would study the complaints before announcing the dates of the next trial sessions.
“I don’t think they will move quickly to the pre-election testing stage,” Netanyahu said, adding: “This will be seen as confirmed election interference.”
On Monday, the court announced that it would hold three sessions per week (Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday) without specifying the total length of the sessions.
The charges against Netanyahu include obtaining personal gain by receiving gifts worth 700,000 shekels ($ 213,000) from Israeli film producer Arnon Milchan and 250,000 shekels ($ 72,000) from Australian billionaire James Packer.
He is also accused of seeking favorable media coverage in Israel’s best-selling daily Yediot Aharonot, as well as being accused of obtaining media coverage on the Shaul Elovitch-owned Bezeq group’s Walla news site in exchange for returned government services and facilities. hundreds of millions of dollars for your group.
Israeli law does not grant the prime minister immunity from prosecution and, if convicted, he will not be forced to resign until all judicial means have been exhausted.
