Benjamin Netanyahu – live: Prime minister dismisses corruption charges as attempt to 'depose him' as he arrives at East Jerusalem courthouse
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Your support makes all the difference.Israel’s prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu has accused police and prosecutors of conspiring to "depose him" as he arrived in court on Sunday for the first criminal trial ever against a sitting Israeli leader.
Mr Netanyahu is attending the opening hearing at a Jerusalem district court to hear the arraignment against him, after a request to have his lawyers represent him instead was rejected.
The leader faces charges of fraud, breach of trust, and accepting bribes in a series of corruption cases linked to his ties with wealthy friends. He has strongly denied the charges against him.
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Netanyahu is innocent until proven guilty, Gantz says as he backs justice system
Benny Gantz, the leader of the Blue and White political alliance, has said Mr Netanyahu is innocent until proven guilty ‘like every citizen’ and has backed the justice system in a cautious statement on the trial.
Mr Gantz had previously campaigned to oust Mr Netanyahu from office but recently reached a coalition deal with the embattled prime minister in return for a senior role in the government.
“I reiterate that my friends and I have complete confidence in the justice system and law enforcement,” Mr Gantz said.
“At this time, perhaps more than ever, we must act as a state and society for unity and reconciliation, for the State of Israel and for all Israeli citizens.”
Netanyahu 'will not need to be present' at future trial hearings
The first session of Mr Netanyahu’s trial appears to have come to a close with lawyers on both sides agreeing that the prime minister will not need to be present at the next session.
He had been forced to attend today’s hearing after a request to have his lawyers represent him instead was rejected.
More on Benny Gantz’s statement this afternoon from our Middle East correspondent Bel Trew:
Benny Gantz, Mr Netanyahu’s former election rival turned coalition partner, issued a very carefully worded statement on the trial on Sunday insisting the prime minister “like any other citizen” was innocent until proven guilty.
Mr Gantz had headed a centrist alliance that battled Mr Netanyahu’s right-wing Likud party across three unprecedented and inconclusive elections between 2019 and this year, arguing that the prime minister could not stay in office while being on trial.
But after all sides failed to form a government, and with the prospect of a fourth election on the horizon, Mr Gantz controversially decided to join forces with Mr Netanyahu to form a unity government much to the fury of his election partners.
Under the coalition deal, Mr Netanyahu stays as prime minister for another 18 months while Mr Gantz is his deputy under the title “alternate prime minister”. From November 2021, they swap roles.
Mr Netanyahu does not have to resign even as “alternate prime minister” as the role awards him the same legal privileges.
Netanyahu statement is ‘blatant attempt to intimidate court’, former PM says
Former prime minister Ehud Barak has condemned Mr Netanyahu’s statement this afternoon as a “blatant attempt to intimidate the court”.
“This is mob-like behavior that should not be allowed to pass,” the former Labor Party leader said, denouncing the statement as a “pathetic trick”.
Mr Barak served as Israel’s prime minister from 1999 to 2001.
As the first day of his trial comes to a close, this is the image Mr Netanyahu will want the Israeli public to see - a leader backed by his party’s ministers.
That's all from our live coverage of the Netanyahu trial today - thanks for joining us!
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