Benjamin Netanyahu, 74, is accused of receiving gifts worth around 175 thousand euros from various people between 2007 and 2016. Bribes include cigars, bottles of champagne and jewelry. The Israeli prime minister has been accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. Netanyahu has declared his innocence and repeatedly claimed he was the victim of “a witch hunt” orchestrated by the left-wing media.
Among the accused corruptors is Israeli Hollywood mogul Arnon Milson, producer of “Brazil,” “JFK,” “Pretty Woman” and “Born Killers.”
Netanyahu is suspected of promoting a tax cut that could have netted Milken millions of dollars. However, the finance ministry canceled it.
According to the Israeli press, Netanyahu will not be called to testify immediately, but may appear to testify within a few months.The trial, which began in May 2020 and is Israel’s first against a sitting prime minister, has been postponed repeatedly due to conflicts between security and prosecution and the Covid-19 pandemic.
Benjamin Netanyahu, head of the Israeli government from 1996 to 1999 and again from 2009 to 2021, is returning to office in the 2022 elections after forming a coalition with ultra-Orthodox and far-right parties.
Criticized by the opposition for failing to prevent a Hamas attack on October 7, the deadliest since Israel’s creation 75 years ago, Netanyahu was forced to form an emergency government and a war cabinet with his rival, Benny Gantz. .
Both men vowed to “destroy” Hamas, and for two months they have been carrying out devastating attacks in the Gaza Strip that have killed more than 15,500 people and injured 41,300, according to the Hamas health ministry. .
Netanyahu, who runs the most extreme far-right government in Israel’s history, has been accused of using the law to avoid his own legal troubles.
What are the charges against Netanyahu?
1,000 in the caseNetanyahu and his wife Sara are accused of receiving gifts, including champagne and cigars, in exchange for political favors from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire businessman James Packer.
oh Procedure 2000 It centers on allegations that Netanyahu negotiated a deal with Israel’s best-selling daily Yedioth Ahronoth to receive favorable coverage in exchange for legislative action against a rival newspaper.
at 4,000 in the processNetanyahu is accused of providing regulatory favors to Bezeq Telecom Israel, a telecommunications company, in exchange for positive media coverage. site A news channel controlled by the former chairman of the company.
There was opposition to judicial reform across the country
In late July, Israel’s parliament — the Knesset — approved Netanyahu’s judicial reform to strengthen his executive’s powers over the Supreme Court with 64 votes to 64.
A judicial reform led to many protests in the streets of Israel in the following days and weeks.
Justice Minister Yariv Levin, who designed the reform, argued that parliament had taken “the first step in an important historic process” to overhaul the judiciary.
President Isaac Herzog, a few days ago, presented a new plan to try to reach an agreement on judicial reform.
Herzog’s proposal proposed suspending the judicial reform approval process for 15 months. However, Parliament ignored this attempt to mediate the conflict and went ahead with its approval.
The new diploma removed the possibility of the Supreme Court declaring any government decision unconstitutional. A law considered the most radical change in Israel’s judicial universe since its establishment in 1948, but supporters argue that the previous standard of “fairness” gave unelected judges excessive powers over decision-making by elected officials.
At the time, critics of Netanyahu’s government asserted that by removing a key part of the court’s powers, “the path to corruption and improper appointments” had been left open.
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