Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his corruption trial in Israel

Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his corruption trial in Israel
File photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, arrives at the District Court in Jerusalem, Israel, June 25, 2023. (AP)
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Updated 09 December 2024
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Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his corruption trial in Israel

Netanyahu is set to take the witness stand for the first time in his corruption trial in Israel
  • The Israeli leader faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs
  • The trial began in 2020, and a verdict is not expected until at least 2026.

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is set to take to the witness stand Tuesday for the first time in his trial on corruption allegations, a pivotal point in the drawn-out proceedings that comes as the leader wages war in Gaza and faces an international arrest warrant for war crimes charges.

At home, Netanyahu is on trial for accusations of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate affairs. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing, but his appearance on the witness stand will be a low point in his decades-long political career, standing in contrast to the image of a sophisticated, respected leader he has tried to cultivate.

The trial will take up a chunk of Netanyahu’s time at a crucial point for Israel. While he makes his case for weeks from the stand, he will still be tasked with managing the war in Gaza, maintaining a fragile ceasefire with the Lebanese militant group Hezbollah and keeping tabs on threats from the wider Middle East, including Iran.

It will be the first time an Israeli prime minister has taken the stand as a criminal defendant, and Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to delay the proceedings, citing the ongoing Gaza war and security concerns. The judges ordered the trial to resume Tuesday, moving the proceedings to an underground chamber in a Tel Aviv court as a security precaution.

Netanyahu’s appearance in the courtroom will also draw attention to other legal issues in the Israeli leader’s orbit. Close advisers in his office are embroiled in a separate series of scandals surrounding leaked classified information and doctored documents. While Netanyahu is not suspected of direct involvement in those, they could weaken his public image.

Here is a look at the ongoing trial.

Where does Netanyahu’s trial stand?

The trial, which began in 2020, involves three separate cases in which prosecutors say Netanyahu exchanged regulatory favors with media titans for favorable press coverage and advanced the personal interests of a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for lavish gifts.

Prosecutors have called roughly 140 witnesses to the stand — fewer than the 300 initially expected to testify.

Those witnesses have included some of Netanyahu’s closest former confidants who turned against him, as well as a former prime minister, former security chiefs and media personalities. Lawyers have submitted thousands of items of evidence — recordings, police documents, text messages.

A new documentary, “The Bibi Files,” has shined new light on the cases by obtaining footage of Netanyahu being questioned by police, as well as interrogations of his wife and some key witnesses. In a glimpse of what can be expected in the courtroom, Netanyahu appears both combative and anxious at times, accusing police of unfairly picking on him and denigrating other witnesses as liars.

The prosecution called to the stand its final witness over the summer, bringing to an end three years of testimony and setting the stage for the defense to lay out its case, with Netanyahu its first witness. Netanyahu’s appearance will give Israelis a chance to see the long-serving Israeli leader answer to the charges before the three-judge panel.

What are some notable moments from Netanyahu’s trial?

The prosecution has sought to portray Netanyahu as media-obsessed, to push its narrative that he would break the law for favorable coverage.

Witness accounts have shed light not only on the three cases but also on sensational details about Netanyahu’s character and his family’s reputation for living lavishly on the backs of taxpayers and wealthy supporters.

One former aide and a key prosecution witness called him a “control freak” over his image. Another witness described expensive gifts for Netanyahu and his wife.

Arnon Milchan, an Israeli producer of Hollywood blockbuster films such as “Pretty Woman,” took the stand last year by videoconference, describing how he routinely delivered tens of thousands of dollars of champagne, cigars and other gifts requested by the Israeli leader.

One key witness, a former top aide to Netanyahu, stunned prosecutors by backtracking from his earlier claims against the prime minister, opening the door for the defense to erode his credibility as a witness. The trial was jolted by Israeli media reports that police used sophisticated phone-hacking software to spy on this witness.

What happens next in Netanyahu’s trial?

The prosecution formally rested its case in July, and the court recessed for the summer and fall. The defense has repeatedly asked for delays in Netanyahu’s testimony, which have mostly been denied.

Like other witnesses, Netanyahu will testify three days a week, for hours at a time, and his testimony is expected to last weeks. The defense will seek to depict Netanyahu as a law-abiding leader who was a victim of careless and biased police investigations.

Netanyahu’s critics have sought to draw a clear line between the cases and the war in Gaza. They say the allegations led Netanyahu to promote a contentious judicial overhaul plan last year that bitterly divided the country and created an image of weakness that encouraged the Oct. 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war.

Netanyahu’s critics, including families of hostages held by Hamas, now accuse him of dragging out the conflict — and risking the lives of their loved ones — to avoid an embarrassing investigation and new elections that could force him from power.

If he is eventually voted out of power, being away from the prime minister’s seat would make it harder for Netanyahu to rail against the justice system and delegitimize the verdict in the eyes of the public.

A verdict isn’t expected until 2026 — at least — and then Netanyahu can choose to appeal to the Supreme Court. Israel’s courts are notoriously sluggish, and the case was further delayed last year when courts went on hiatus for two months after war broke out following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attack.

Once the defense rests, each side will summarize their cases before judges convene to deliberate over Netanyahu’s fate.


250 flee as Turkish rescuers battle wildfire in Gallipoli

250 flee as Turkish rescuers battle wildfire in Gallipoli
Updated 1 min 4 sec ago
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250 flee as Turkish rescuers battle wildfire in Gallipoli

250 flee as Turkish rescuers battle wildfire in Gallipoli
  • The fire began on Saturday in the northwestern province of Canakkale, and spread quickly due to high winds in the hills near the town of Gelibolu
ISTANBUL: More than 250 people were evacuated overnight as a wildfire raged on the Gallipoli peninsula flanking the Dardanelles Strait, where Turkish firefighters were battling Sunday to quench the blaze, officials said.
The fire began on Saturday in the northwestern province of Canakkale, and spread quickly due to high winds in the hills near the town of Gelibolu, on the shores of the busy shipping strait.
“As a precaution, 251 residents from five villages were relocated to safe areas,” Canakkale governor Omer Toraman wrote on X.
Footage showed the hillsides illuminated by bright flames while huge clouds of smoke poured into the night air.
Toraman said the province, a popular destination for tourists visiting the ancient ruins of Troy, as well as the Gallipoli battleground where thousands of soldiers died in World War I, had suffered “extremely severe drought” over the past year.
While the weather has been fairly normal for the time of year, much of northwestern Turkiye has suffered strong winds in recent days, although they eased off on Sunday.
Firefighters worked through the night, with 12 planes and 18 helicopters rejoining the efforts at first light in an operation involving 900 people, the forestry directorate said on X.
The authority in charge of the war memorials said on X that access to historical sites near the town of Eceabat had been closed “due to the ongoing forest fire.”
On Monday, another fire on the other side of the strait forced 2,000 people to flee, with around 80 treated for smoke inhalation.
Several days earlier, another fire forced the evacuation of 120 people and the suspension of shipping through the Dardanelles Strait, which links the Mediterranean with the Sea of Marmara and the Black Sea.
According to the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) website, there have been 192 wildfires in Turkiye this year, which have ravaged more than 110,373 hectares (273,000 acres) of land.
Experts say human-driven climate change is causing more frequent and more intense wildfires and other natural disasters, and have warned Turkiye to take measures to tackle the problem.

Syrian president says unifying country ‘should not be with blood’

Syrian president says unifying country ‘should not be with blood’
Updated 34 min 15 sec ago
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Syrian president says unifying country ‘should not be with blood’

Syrian president says unifying country ‘should not be with blood’
  • Syrian President Ahmad Al Sharaa remarks came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria’s Sweida province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze majority province

DAMASCUS: Syrian President Ahmed Al-Sharaa has said the battle to unify his country after years of civil war “should not be with blood,” rejecting any partition and accusing Israel of meddling in the south.

His remarks, released by state TV on Sunday, came as hundreds demonstrated in south Syria’s Sweida province, denouncing sectarian violence last month and calling for the right to self-determination for the Druze-majority province.

“We still have another battle ahead of us to unify Syria, and it should not be with blood and military force... it should be through some kind of understanding because Syria is tired of war,” Sharaa said during a dialogue session involving notables from the northwest province of Idlib and other senior officials.

“I do not see Syria as at risk of division. Some people desire a process of dividing Syria and trying to establish cantons... this matter is impossible,” he said according to a recording of the meeting, distributed overnight by state media.

“Some parties seek to gain power through regional power, Israel or others. This is also extremely difficult and cannot be implemented,” he said.

At the protest in Sweida, some demonstrators waved the Israeli flag and called for self-determination for the region.

A week of bloodshed in Sweida began on July 13 with clashes between Druze fighters and Sunni Bedouin, but rapidly escalated, drawing in government forces, with Israel also carrying out strikes.

Syrian authorities have said their forces intervened to stop the clashes, but witnesses, Druze factions and the Syrian Observatory for Human Rights have accused them of siding with the Bedouin and committing abuses against the Druze, including summary executions.

Sharaa said that Sweida “witnessed many violations from all sides... some members of the security forces and army in Syria also carried out some violations.”

The state is required “to hold all perpetrators of violations to account,” whatever their affiliation, he added.

“Israel is intervening directly in Sweida, seeking to implement policies aimed at weakening the state in general or finding excuses to interfere in ongoing policies in the southern region,” Sharaa said.

Israel, which has its own Druze community, has said it has acted to defend the minority group as well as enforce its demands for the demilitarization of southern Syria.

Syria’s new authorities are also in talks with a semi-autonomous Kurdish administration that runs swathes of the country’s north and northeast and has called for decentralization, which Damascus has rejected.

Implementation of a March 10 deal on integrating the Kurds’ semi-autonomous civil and military institutions into the state has been held up by differences between the parties.

“We are now discussing the mechanisms for implementation” of the deal, Sharaa said.


Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal

Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal
Updated 59 min 55 sec ago
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Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal

Protests held across Israel calling for end to Gaza war, hostage deal
  • The protests come more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory
  • Forty nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead

TEL AVIV: Demonstrators took to the streets across Israel Sunday calling for an end to the war in Gaza and a deal to release hostages still held by militants, as the military prepares a new offensive.

The protests come more than a week after Israel’s security cabinet approved plans to capture Gaza City, following 22 months of war that have created dire humanitarian conditions in the Palestinian territory.

The war was triggered by Palestinian militant group Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel, during which 251 were taken hostage.

Forty-nine captives remain in Gaza, including 27 the Israeli military says are dead.

A huge Israeli flag covered with portraits of the remaining captives was unfurled in Tel Aviv’s so-called Hostage Square — which has long been a focal point for protests throughout the war.

Demonstrators also blocked several roads in the city, including the highway connecting Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, where demonstrators set tires on fire and caused traffic jams, according to local media footage.

Protest organizers and the main campaign group representing the families of hostages also called for a general strike on Sunday.

“I think it’s time to end the war. It’s time to release all of the hostages. And it’s time to help Israel recover and move toward a more stable Middle East,” said Doron Wilfand, a 54-year-old tour guide, at a rally in Jerusalem.

However, some government members who oppose any deal with Hamas slammed the demonstrations.

Israel’s far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich decried “a perverse and harmful campaign that plays into the hands of Hamas.”

He argued that public pressure to secure a deal effectively “buries the hostages in tunnels and seeks to push the State of Israel to surrender to its enemies and jeopardize its security and future.”

APTFV footage showed protesters at a rally in Beeri, a kibbutz near the Gaza border that was one of the hardest-hit communities in the Hamas attack, and Israeli media reported protests in numerous locations across the country.

Israeli plans to expand the war into Gaza City and nearby refugee camps have sparked an international outcry as well as domestic opposition.

UN-backed experts have warned of widespread famine unfolding in the territory, where Israel has drastically curtailed the amount of humanitarian aid it allows in.

According to Gaza’s civil defense agency, Israeli troops shot dead at least 13 Palestinians on Saturday as they were waiting to collect food aid near distribution sites.

Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel resulted in the deaths of 1,219 people, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Israel’s offensive has killed more than 61,897 Palestinians, most of them civilians, according to figures from the health ministry in Hamas-run Gaza which the United Nations considers reliable.


Israel targets energy infrastructure site used by Houthis near Yemeni capital

Israel targets energy infrastructure site used by Houthis near Yemeni capital
Updated 17 August 2025
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Israel targets energy infrastructure site used by Houthis near Yemeni capital

Israel targets energy infrastructure site used by Houthis near Yemeni capital
  • Attack on the Haziz power station near Sanaa carried out by the Israeli navy
  • Israel has been bombing Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel

The Israeli military said it had targeted an energy infrastructure site that was used by the Iran-aligned Houthis south of the Yemeni capital Sanaa early on Sunday, with Israeli media saying the Haziz power station had been hit.

The military said in a statement that the strikes were in response to repeated attacks by the Houthis against Israel, including launching missiles and drones toward its territory.

Israeli media reported earlier that the attack on the Haziz power station near the capital was carried out by the Israeli navy.

Houthi-run Al Masirah TV said that the power station was hit by an “aggression,” knocking some of its generators out of service. It did not indicate the source of the attack.

Teams were able to contain a resulting fire, Al Masirah reported, citing the deputy prime minister.

At least two explosions were heard earlier in Sanaa, residents said.

Israel has been bombing Yemen in response to Houthi attacks on Israel. The Yemeni group has been firing missiles toward Israel, most of which have been intercepted, in what they describe as support for Palestinians during the war in Gaza.

The United States and the UK have also previously launched attacks against the Houthis in Yemen.

In May, the US announced a surprise deal with the Houthis where it agreed to stop a bombing campaign against them in return for an end to the group’s attacks on shipping in the Red Sea, though the Houthis said the deal did not include sparing Israel.


Mistrust and fear: The complex story behind strained Syria-Lebanon relations

Mistrust and fear: The complex story behind strained Syria-Lebanon relations
Updated 17 August 2025
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Mistrust and fear: The complex story behind strained Syria-Lebanon relations

Mistrust and fear: The complex story behind strained Syria-Lebanon relations
  • Even after the fall of the 54 year Assad family rule, relations between Beirut and Damascus remain tense

BEIRUT: A lot has happened in just a year on both sides of the Lebanon-Syria border. A lightning offensive by Islamist insurgents in Syria toppled longtime autocrat Bashar Assad and brought a new government in place in Damascus.

In Lebanon, a bruising war with Israel dealt a serious blow to Hezbollah — the Iran-backed and Assad-allied Shiite Lebanese militant group that had until recently been a powerful force in the Middle East — and a US-negotiated deal has brought a fragile ceasefire.

Still, even after the fall of the 54-year Assad family rule, relations between Beirut and Damascus remain tense — as they have been for decades past, with Syria long failing to treat its smaller neighbor as a sovereign nation.

Recent skirmishes along the border have killed and wounded several people, both fighters and civilians, including a four-year-old Lebanese girl. Beirut and Damascus have somewhat coordinated on border security, but attempts to reset political relations have been slow. Despite visits to Syria by two heads of Lebanon’s government, no Syrian official has visited Lebanon.

Here is what’s behind the complicated relations.

A coldness that goes way back

Many Syrians have resented Hezbollah for wading into Syria’s civil war in defense of Assad’s government. Assad’s fall sent them home, but many Lebanese now fear cross-border attacks by Syria’s Islamic militants.

There are new restrictions on Lebanese entering Syria, and Lebanon has maintained tough restrictions on Syrians entering Lebanon.

The Lebanese also fear that Damascus could try to bring Lebanon under a new Syrian tutelage.

Syrians have long seen Lebanon as a staging ground for anti-Syria activities, including hosting opposition figures before Hafez Assad — Bashar Assad’s father — ascended to power in a bloodless 1970 coup.

In 1976, Assad senior sent his troops to Lebanon, allegedly to bring peace as Lebanon was hurtling into a civil war that lasted until 1990. Once that ended, Syrian forces — much like a colonial power — remained in Lebanon for another 15 years.

A signature of the Assad family rule, Syria’s dreaded security agents disappeared and tortured dissidents to keep the country under their control. They did the same in Lebanon.

“Syrians feel that Lebanon is the main gateway for conspiracies against them,” says Lebanese political analyst Ali Hamadeh.

Turbulent times

It took until 2008 for the two countries to agree to open diplomatic missions, marking Syria’s first official recognition of Lebanon as an independent state since it gained independence from France in 1943.

The move came after the 2005 truck-bombing assassination of former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri that many blamed on Damascus. Two months later, Syria pulled its troops out of Lebanon under international pressure, ending 29 years of near-complete domination of its neighbor.

When Syria’s own civil war erupted in 2011, hundreds of thousands of Syrians fled across the border, making crisis-hit Lebanon the host of the highest per capita population of refugees in the world. Once in Lebanon, the refugees complained about discrimination, including curfews for Syrian citizens in some areas.

Hezbollah, meanwhile, rushed thousands of its fighters into Syria in 2013 to shore up Assad, worried that its supply lines from Iran could dry up.

And as much as the Lebanese are divided over their country’s internal politics, Syria’s war divided them further into those supporting Assad’s government and those opposing it.

Distrust and deadlock

A key obstacle to warming relations has been the fate of about 2,000 Syrians in Lebanese prisons, including some 800 held over attacks and shootings, many without trial. Damascus is asking Beirut to hand them over to continue their prison terms in Syria, but Lebanese judicial officials say Beirut won’t release any attackers and that each must be studied and resolved separately.

In July, family members of the detainees rallied along a border crossing, demanding their relatives be freed. The protest came amid reports that Syrian troops could deploy foreign fighters in Lebanon, which Damascus officials denied.

Another obstacle is Lebanon’s demand that Syrian refugees go back home now that Assad is gone. About 716,000 Syrian refugees are registered with the UN refugee agency, while hundreds of thousands more are unregistered in Lebanon, which has a population of about 5 million.

Syria is also demanding the return of billions of dollars worth of deposits of Syrians trapped in Lebanese banks since Lebanon’s historic financial meltdown in 2019.

The worst post-Assad border skirmishes came in mid-March, when Syrian authorities said Hezbollah members crossed the border and kidnapped and killed three Syrian soldiers. The Lebanese government and army said the clash was between smugglers and that Hezbollah wasn’t involved.

Days later, Lebanese and Syrian defense ministers flew to Saudi Arabia and signed an agreement on border demarcation and boosting their coordination.

In July, rumors spread in Lebanon, claiming the northern city of Tripoli would be given to Syria in return for Syria giving up the Golan Heights to Israel. And though officials dismissed the rumors, they illustrate the level of distrust between the neighbors.

Beirut was also angered by Syria’s appointment this year of a Lebanese army officer — Abdullah Shehadeh, who defected in 2014 from Lebanon to join Syrian insurgents — as the head of security in Syria’s central province of Homs that borders northeastern Lebanon.

In Syria, few were aware of Shehadeh’s real name — he was simply known by his nom de guerre, Abu Youssef the Lebanese. Syrian security officials confirmed the appointment.

What’s ahead

Analysts say an important step would be for the two neighbors to work jointly to boost security against cross-border smuggling. A US-backed plan that was recently adopted by the Lebanese government calls for moving toward full demarcation of the border.

Radwan Ziadeh, a senior fellow at the Arab Center in Washington, says the best way forward would be for Syria and Lebanon to address each problem between them individually — not as a package deal.

That way, tensions would be reduced gradually, he said and downplayed recent comments by prominent Syrian anti-Assad figures who claimed Lebanon is part of Syria and should return to it.

“These are individual voices that do not represent the Syrian state,” Zaideh said.