By Abdelraouf Arnaout and Rania Abu Shamala
JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared on Monday for the 14th time before the Tel Aviv District Court to defend himself against corruption charges.
Netanyahu appears three days a week before the court to respond to the corruption accusations against him.
He faces three separate cases of corruption filed in 2019 against him: Case 1,000, Case 2,000, and Case 4,000, which include accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. Netanyahu, however, denies any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “fake.”
Netanyahu, whose trial began on May 24, 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history.
Under Israeli law, he is not required to resign unless convicted by the Supreme Court, a process that could take several months.
The Israeli premier also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where nearly 48,400 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.