Netanyahu again calls for his trial to be canceled.
According to the Al-Ittihad newspaper, published in the occupied Palestinian territories, Benjamin Netanyahu submitted a new request on Thursday to cancel his trial.
According to the Al-Ittihad newspaper, Benjamin Netanyahu had previously requested several times to cancel or shorten his trial sessions under similar pretexts.
The newspaper added that on Wednesday, during Benjamin Netanyahu’s trial, tensions arose in the courtroom, and grieving Zionist families entered the courtroom holding placards, creating a tense atmosphere.
Meanwhile, Judge Rifka Friedman-Feldman announced that Netanyahu’s next trial session would be shorter and would be held from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m., while it was previously scheduled to last until 2 p.m.
According to Al-Ittihad, another session three days earlier was canceled at Netanyahu’s request due to an “emergency political meeting.” Last week, Netanyahu had also requested that his testimony be canceled, citing a secret security meeting as the reason. However, on the same day, he went to the recruitment center with Defense Minister Yisrael Katz and the head of the regime’s army’s human resources department, and met with combat engineers. He then went to Sheba Hospital and met with soldiers from the 55th Brigade who were wounded in the Syrian conflict.
According to IRNA, Netanyahu is facing four legal cases, including charges of corruption, bribery, and abuse of public trust; charges that, if proven, would result in a prison sentence for him. However, he has so far denied any of these charges.
In the “1000” case, he is accused of receiving gifts worth 700,000 shekels from Arnon Milchan, an Israeli producer in Hollywood and a wealthy businessman. According to the Israeli prosecutor, he abused the prime minister’s authority to secure his personal business interests in exchange for receiving expensive gifts, including alcohol and cigarettes, for Milchan.
In the “2000” case, Netanyahu is accused of colluding with Arnon Moses, the owner of the famous newspaper “Yediot Aharonot”, so that positive reports and news about him and his activities would be published in this newspaper, and as a result, the private newspaper “Israeli Hum” (a rival of Yediot Aharonot and a critic of Netanyahu) would be put under pressure by the cabinet and the prime minister.
Also, the “3000” case concerns the purchase of three submarines from Germany, and it caused a lot of controversy in 2016 (1395). Some Knesset members and Zionist politicians severely criticized Netanyahu due to this case. In this case, Netanyahu received a bribe from a German company to purchase a submarine for the Israeli army, and the characteristics of these weapons were not the basis for the purchase from them.
The “4000” case also concerns the Israeli Prime Minister’s dealings with the owner of the Bezeq telecommunications company, the company that owns the “Vala” news website, and according to the Israeli prosecutor’s report, Netanyahu is accused of widespread corruption in this case. In this case, he is accused of providing millions of dollars in financial facilities to “Shaul Elwich,” the owner of the company, so that the Vala news website could provide media support for the Prime Minister and his family.