Corruption Trial of Israeli Prime Minister Netanyahu Resumes

Facts

• Israel's judiciary has resumed criminal proceedings against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu after the trial concerning multiple corruption charges was paused via an emergency order following Hamas' Oct. 7 attack on Israel.¹
• The Jerusalem District Court will resume proceedings against Netanyahu, with the Prime Minister facing two cases of fraud and breach of trust, as well as one case of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust in one case, and fraud and breach of trust in another. Israel's emergency order pausing all non-urgent legal cases, placed by Justice Minister Yariv Levin, expired last week.²
• Prosecutors claim that between 2007 and 2016 Netanyahu received gifts — including cigars, champagne, and jewelry — of up to 700K shekels (US$195K) in exchange for financial or personal favors. Netanyahu denies the charges, and in October 2019 his lawyers claimed that an expert legal opinion defended the right to accept gifts from close friends.³
• Prosecutors further claim that the gifts were part of an alleged plot by controlling shareholders of Israeli telecom company Bezeq and the Israeli Prime Minister to receive regulatory leniency in return for positive news coverage.⁴
• Approximately 50 individuals are still set to appear as witnesses, with the trial being postponed multiple times prior for reasons including the COVID pandemic. Netanyahu was originally indicted in 2019, with police recommending in 2018 for the Prime Minister to be formally prosecuted following a two-year investigation.⁵
• The trial began in 2020, with bribery charges carrying up to 10 years imprisonment and/or a fine, alongside both breach of trust and fraud sentences amounting to up to three years. Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to face trial; he's reportedly not expected to be called to testify in the short-term but may be in the coming months.⁶

Sources: ¹Al Jazeera, ²The Times of Israel, ³English.Alarabiya.Net, ⁴France 24, ⁵World News – India TV and ⁶DW.

Narratives

• Narrative A, as provided by The Jerusalem Post. No matter what Netanyahu and his government claim to have achieved during his record-breaking time in office, the legacy of Israel's Prime Minister will always be in the shadow of corruption. With the United States and many other global actors beginning to question Netanyahu's — and thus Israel's — strength, ability, and viable posterity, Jerusalem must begin to look in a new direction with urgency.
• Narrative B, as provided by Israel Hayom. Netanyahu continues to fight back against these fabricated charges, all of which have no evidence to support them other than pre-planned accusations from government employees. This trial must go on for Netanyahu and his supporters to highlight why Israel's judicial system is in dire need of reform. Ironically, this merely portrays the disingenuous nature of the anti-Netanyahu media sphere rather than the Prime Minister himself.

Predictions