Netanyahu to testify today for the first time in corruption trial

Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite the Gaza war and possible new threats posed by wider turmoil in the Middle East, including in neighbouring Syria Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of Israel is set to take the stand on Tuesday for the first time in his long-running corruption trial under a court order that is likely to force him to juggle between the courtroom and war room for weeks. Charged with bribery, fraud and breach of trust, Netanyahu will testify three times a week, the court said, despite the Gaza war and possible new threats posed by wider turmoil in the Middle East, including in neighbouring Syria. The shock Hamas attack on Israel on Oct. 7, 2023, and the ensuing Gaza war swept Netanyahu’s trial off the public agenda as Israelis came together in grief and trauma. In power almost consecutively since 2009, Netanyahu, 75, is Israel’s longest serving leader and its first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime.