Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks on during the day he testifies in his trial on corruption charges at the district court in Tel Aviv on December 10, 2024.
Benjamin Netanyahu became the first sitting Israeli PM to appear as a defendant in a criminal trial Tuesday. But his goal over the upcoming weeks of testimony may be more than just fending off charges of bribery and breach of trust — it may be to define and reinforce his legacy as Israel’s saviour.Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu looks out at a courtroom in Tel Aviv Tuesday, the day he began testifying his trial on corruption charges.
Supporters of Netanyahu react outside the court where he took the stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial on Tuesday. "There was no 'understanding,' no corruption, no nothing," he said, suggesting the entirety of the cases against him were politically motivated.The evening before, at a combative press conference, Netanyahu called the trial a "political witch hunt" that had "ruined the lives of dozens of people" caught up in it.
Plesner told CBC News that although Netanyahu got off to a predictably combative start, it's unclear how his belligerence will play once he faces cross-examination by prosecutors or has to speak directly to the panel of judges.His supporters frame him as a defender of Israel, who is tough on security and espouses a strong sense of Jewish national identity, Plesner said.
"The other line is that Netanyahu is going to say that he was not part of it ... that he didn't know a lot about the issues that the state is actually prosecuting him for, he has more important security issues to deal with."
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