Netanyahu denies the corruption charges during his trial in occupied Jerusalem

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On Monday, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied corruption charges against him before the court in occupied East Jerusalem, while his trial will witness intense hearings over a period of six weeks before the fourth elections in two years, in which he seeks to win a new term.

Netanyahu is considered the first prime minister to be indicted while in office for accepting luxury gifts and seeking to grant regulatory facilities to influential media outlets in return for positive media coverage.

Netanyahu ( 71), who considers the accusations fabricated and ridiculous, spent only twenty minutes inside the court, which he arrived, wearing a black mask, as he was forced to appear before the judges to provide an official response to the charges.

The judge and Feldman Friedman began the last preliminary hearing before the trial, reading the charges against the Prime Minister.

I confirm the written answer given in my name, the prime minister, who has held his position without interruption since 2009, said before leaving the courtroom. Future sessions will focus on testifying and presenting evidence.

The sessions are ongoing

During Monday's session that lasted for several hours after Netanyahu left, Prime Minister Boaz Ben Tzur's attorney accused the Israeli Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit, whom Netanyahu had appointed of mishandling the file.

Ben Tzur said that the elements of the investigation with the Prime Minister opened without obtaining the required permits.

Netanyahu may be forced to appear in court several times a week, at a time when he begins his campaign to contest the fourth elections in Israel in less than two years, on March 23.

And Netanyahu appeared on television as he entered the Central Courtroom in occupied East Jerusalem, shortly before the start of the session at 9 am local time.

His The lawyers requested that the sessions be postponed for several months, under the pretext that they needed more time to prepare due to the difficulty of the case, but the judges did not decide on this request before the end of the session.

Netanyahu's trial on Monday comes a day after the easing of health restrictions imposed in the context of combating the outbreak of the Covid-19 epidemic and after the postponement of the hearing, which was first scheduled in January.

Interference in elections

Netanyahu had already appeared in court nine months ago, and at that time he had achieved a political victory by forming a coalition government with his rival, Benny Gantz, after three inconclusive elections.

But this coalition did not last long and collapsed in December, and Gantz renewed his description of Netanyahu as dishonest. It remains unclear whether the trial will hurt his chances of re-election next month.

The speaker of the Israeli parliament (Knesset) loyal to Netanyahu, Yariv Levin, has always insisted that the trial should be postponed. Levin told the right-wing Israel Hayom newspaper that going ahead with the trial will contribute to gross interference in the elections.

Levin stressed that it is unfair that the trial takes place during the election campaign, while the defense team is not scheduled to present its arguments to refute the accusations until after Election Day.

Recent polls indicate that Netanyahu's right-wing Likud party remains the strongest, but its ability to form a majority of 61 seats with its right-wing allies is indisputable.

Netanyahu is also facing, for the first time in his political life, a challenge from one of the prominent defectors from his Likud party, Gideon Sa'ar, who broke away to form his new party.