JERUSALEM, May 21 (NNN-WAFA) – The Israeli court, on Wednesday, ordered Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, to appear at the first court session of his upcoming corruption trial.
The Jerusalem District Court rejected a request filed by Netanyahu’s lawyers on Tuesday, to exempt him from appearing for the hearing.
The lawyers argued that Netanyahu’s presence was unnecessary because he had “read this indictment several times already,” and the five bodyguards needed to secure his arrival would cost the public coffers “a fortune.”
The presence of defendants in their opening session is a regular procedure in Israel. The trial will begin on May 24, at the Jerusalem District Court.
On Sunday, Israel’s longest-serving leader was sworn-in, in his power-sharing government together with his rival, Benny Gantz, leader of the centrist Blue and White party, breaking a year and a half of political stalemate, following three rounds of inconclusive elections.
Netanyahu’s trial on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust should have begun in Mar, but was postponed to May 24, because of lock-down restrictions amid the outbreak of COVID-19.
Netanyahu, the first sitting prime minister in Israel’s history to stand trial, denies all allegations as part of “a witch hunt.”
The trial, including the expected appeals, could take several years.
