Netanyahu reappears in District Court on corruption charges after a month-long hiatus

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared again on Wednesday in Tel Aviv District Court on corruption charges after a month-long hiatus.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation said: “Prime Minister Netanyahu renewed his testimony in the District Court this morning as part of the cases in which he is charged, as the trial will resume in about a month”.

Netanyahu’s trial was interrupted due to Jewish holidays (Sukkot, Yom Kippur, Rosh Hashanah) and his travel to New York to participate in the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, which was held in New York City last September.

The Israeli Broadcasting Corporation added, “Ministers and Knesset members came to court to support Netanyahu,” who heads the Likud party.

This is the first time Netanyahu has appeared before the court since US President Donald Trump asked his Israeli counterpart, Isaac Herzog, to grant him a pardon during his address to the Knesset on Monday.

Later, the Broadcasting Authority said that “Netanyahu left the courtroom for a while after receiving an envelope from his aides”.

Netanyahu has repeatedly left the courtroom during previous court sessions, claiming to have received an envelope from his aides.

Right-wing Justice Minister Yariv Levin, from the Likud party, defended Netanyahu, saying that his trial “shouldn’t have begun in the first place, and its very existence contradicts justice and the interests of the state.

Levin expressed his support for the proposed law that would allow Netanyahu’s trial sessions to be canceled.

He said, “The important bill proposed by MK Ariel Kellner aims to ensure that the prime minister devotes the necessary time to managing state affairs during this period… I intend to bring it to the Ministerial Committee for Legislation as soon as it is submitted for discussion”.

Education Minister Yoav Kisch, a right-wing member of the Likud party, also said in a post on the American company X that “it’s time to cancel the trial”.

He said, “We’re going through one of the most sensitive and critical periods in the history of the State of Israel… On the agenda are grave security challenges, existential threats, and rare historic opportunities to reshape the region: from the military arena, through peace agreements, to strengthening our international standing”.

He added, “It’s not just a matter of timing, nor is it simply about the current situation… This entire trial, from its very foundation, was and remains flawed… A trial built on distortions, leaks, pressure, and fabricated accusations… A trial based on clauses that embarrass the regime itself has become a political tool and selective implementation that has no place in a democratic state”.

He pointed out that Trump, “in his recent speech to the Knesset, and on numerous other occasions, addressed the cancellation of Netanyahu’s trial, saying what most of us believe: Netanyahu’s trial is politically motivated and distorted, based on external motives, and must be canceled”.

Netanyahu faces charges of corruption, bribery, and breach of trust in three corruption cases known as Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000, the most serious of which were filed by former Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit in late November 2019.

“Case 1000” concerns allegations that Netanyahu and members of his family received expensive gifts from businessmen in exchange for favors and assistance in various areas.

In “Case 2000,” Netanyahu is accused of negotiating with Arnon Mozes, publisher of the privately owned Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, to obtain positive media coverage.

Case 4000 concerns the alleged granting of benefits to the former owner of the Hebrew-language Walla news website, Shaul Elovitch, who was also an executive at the Bezeq telecommunications company, in exchange for positive media coverage.

Netanyahu’s trial in these cases began in 2020; He denies the charges against him, claiming they are a political campaign aimed at ousting him.

In addition to his domestic trial, the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for Netanyahu on November 21, 2024, on charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity against Palestinians in Gaza.