Israel: PM Netanyahu takes stand in corruption trial

From the very beginning, Netanyahu repeatedly criticized the Israeli media for being "monolithic" and "biased" which is why, he argues, he never got positive media coverage.

"Throughout the entire day, Netanyahu painted himself as a great statemen who has sacrificed much in life for his position in office. While he displays in depth knowledge of the Israeli media, he falls short in addressing the allegations he's accused of in the same detail-oriented manner," says DW's Gordine.

Netanyahu claims that relationships between politicians and the media are the basis of democracy, something he says dates back to the founding fathers of the United States. He said they established their own papers with their own editors and argued that nobody would have called them "corrupt" for it.

When asked whether one can try and influence the identity of reporters and an editor-in-chief he insisted: "It's the most natural thing in the world. … It's not corrupt."

Relating to case 4000, Netanyahu said he did not recall signing any documents in 2012 that granted Shaul Elovitch ownership of the communications giant Bezeg. Instead, he shrugged the matter off by outlining how signatures are given in his line of work and complained that staff members who brought documents to him didn’t explain their content properly.

"This is how you sign things; this is how it works," he says with a shrug and a chuckle, adding the system was similar in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. "The same thing happens in the Knesset. They bring you a pile of papers to sign, and you sign. In our bureaucratic world, that's how it works. That’s the system."

Netanyahu's overall stance has been that all accusations against him are "too insignificant to even consider," DW’s Emily Gordine reports, adding he seems to view the charges as "laughable" and instead went into "long lectures about what it is to be a prime minister."

Asked if he was ever presented with a document he did not sign, Netanyahu says: "No, I don't think so. Hundreds, thousands of documents. There would be real questions if I didn't sign documents brought to me by the professional experts." 

He also denied receiving positive news coverage on the platform "Walla" in return.

Benjamin Netanyahu has resumed his testimony by repeating claims from last night that Israeli citizens are frustrated with Israeli media and not with him, DW correspondent Emily Gordine reports.

Speaking directly to the chief judge in the small courtroom, he said huge damage was being caused by the "monolithic nature" of Israeli media.

He called media in Israel "mobilized" and "biased," saying that it was of existential importance to "diversify opinions in the media, so it won't only report from one side of the political map." 

Netanyahu said he felt US media covered the war better than "Israel's biased media," making him realize how existential impartiality is.

"[The media] are party to the conflict ... the distance between the media and any sort of ethics is an abyss," he said, adding that he had failed to return the media back to any form of professionalism

Responding to a question from Judge Baram, Netanyahu continued to inveigh against the media: "It's like if 75% of the public wants meat, but 98% of supermarkets only serve vegan food." 

He added that he had found a way to make his views known by circumventing mainstream media. "Then I discovered the internet ... unimpeded access to the public ... You get 2 million views! It gives you the ability to overcome this monolith."

Netanyahu's government voted in November to boycott the left-liberal Israeli newspaper Haaretz over its critical coverage of the war.

After a short pause, Netanyahu has returned to the stand.

Responding to a question from his lawyer as to how much he is bothered by the accusations against him, he said, "If I tell you it's a drop in the ocean, it would be an exaggeration. I'm busy with matters of world importance." 

His lawyer then asked him what he does during his 17 hours of daily work, to which he replied that he was busy mostly with security issues and meetings with military officials and that in "normal times."

"If I could only steal away five minutes to enjoy some time with my wife ... meetings, meetings, there is a full-blown office in the Balfour residence, with secretaries," he said.

DW's Emily Gordine says his comments about his lack of spare time might aim to suggest he was so busy over the years that he didn't have time to engage in any corrupt activities.

Netanyahu has also spoken of differences of opinion between him and former US President Barack Obama in a bid to underline the pressures he has faced.

He said Obama did not see Iran so much as a threat but as an opportunity and was in favor of establishing a Palestinian state alongside Israel.

"Of course, I had to stand against these demands," Netanyahu said, which included a freeze on building Israeli settlements in the West Bank, considered illegal under international law.

"It was massive pressure I had to stand against. I also faced internal struggles, the media. This required a huge, huge struggle."

However, Netanyahu said he had been successful in his resistance, among other things, hailing the fact that "we doubled the population of Judea and Samaria" during the Obama years, using a term often employed by the Israeli government when speaking of the occupied West Bank.

Netanyahu has begun his testimony by decrying that he's on trial, says DW's Emily Gordine from the courtroom.

He said he'd been waiting eight years to "tell my truth, to the best of my recollection."

Then, he told the judges that "the most important regional event since the Sykes-Picot Act" had just unfolded and that the state's needs should, therefore, be balanced against the trial's needs, "which I recognize."   

"The only thing in front of me is the future of the state, not my own future," he said, an apparent response to critics who argue that he has tied his future to the state's future.

His remarks seem to be a reference to the current conflicts gripping the Gaza Strip and parts of the wider Middle East.

Netanyahu went on to say that his life has been a continuous struggle against Israeli media and public discourse in Israel. "I took criticism and attacks, insults, libel and lies to the extent that very few people and no one in Israel has ever had to face," he said.  

"It is simply absurd, just absurd," he said, to claim that he got any hedonistic advantage through public life.

He also mentioned his wife, Sara, saying she had "been attacked worse than any prime minister's wife in history." 

Unlikely. Unless Netanyahu seeks a plea deal, it could be many more months before the judges rule.

 

DW's Emily Gordine is in the courtroom reporting on proceedings.

She says Netanyahu's defense lawyer, Amit Haddad, began his opening arguments by criticizing the former attorney general for having the audacity to indict a sitting prime minister.

The minister for national security, Itamar Ben Gvir, also made an appearance before the trial started, saying the current attorney general, General Gali Baharav-Miara, should be removed.

Netanyahu's testimony is scheduled for two or three times a week, six hours a day, over several weeks. Court sessions are scheduled through the end of December.

Even though the prime minister is being tried in the Jerusalem District Court, he will testify in an underground chamber in a Tel Aviv district court instead of in the Jerusalem courthouse for security reasons.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is testifying at a district court in Tel Aviv for the first time in his long-running corruption trial.

His trial has stretched over four years, and he's accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases. The cases are: 

• Case 1000, which alleges that Netanyahu and his family accepted lavish gifts in exchange for political favors,
• Case 2000, which alleges that Netanyahu discussed curbing the distribution of rival newspapers in return for favorable press coverage, and
• Case 4000, which accuses Netanyahu of influecing legislation in exchange for favorable press coverage

eg,tj/rm (DW, Reuters)