Israeli PM pleads not guilty to corruption as trial resumes

Benjamin Netanyahu returns to court to face three corruption allegations just six weeks ahead of an election. Netanyahu blasted the charges as ‘fabricated and ludicrous’ ahead of his first court appearance in May and claimed to be the victim of a witch-hunt

TEL AVIV - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu pleaded not guilty yesterday to corruption charges at the resumption of his trial, six weeks before voters again head to the polls to pass judgment on his leadership.

“I confirm the written answer submitted in my name,” Netanyahu said, standing before the three-judge panel in the heavily guarded Jerusalem District Court.

He was referring to a document his lawyers gave the court last month in which they argued that Netanyahu, 71, was not guilty of charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud.

Wearing a coronavirus mask, Netanyahu, the first serving Israeli leader to be charged with a crime, seemed intent on projecting an air of business as usual, thanking the court and leaving without explanation some 20 minutes into the session.

Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 in long-running cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable coverage.

On entering the courtroom,

Netanyahu sat in a corner with his lawyers, his back to cameras. The session itself was not broadcast but reporters could monitor a closed-circuit feed elsewhere in the building. His quick departure from the court building seemed aimed at showing the public that he would not allow the trial to interfere with government business as

Israel begins to emerge from a month-long coronavirus lockdown. The prime minister denies wrongdoing. Under Israeli law, a prime minister is under no obligation to stand down unless convicted.

At the session, Netanyahu sat, arms crossed, and coughed occasionally into his mask, before taking it off to sip water.

Last May, at the opening of his trial, Netanyahu put on a display of defiance that opponents condemned as a challenge to the rule of law.

Before that session got under way, Netanyahu delivered a speech from a podium in the corridor, condemning his prosecution as a left-wing witch hunt aimed at ousting a right-wing prime minister as a phalanx of cabinet officials stood at his side. – REUTERS.