The 98-day marathon testimony of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his corruption trial concluded Monday, with the panel of judges reaffirming its recommendation to drop the bribery charge — a position it first took in June 2023, according to reports. Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara had rejected that recommendation then and has not indicated a change.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's four-month-long testimony in his corruption trial wrapped up Monday after 98 court sessions over an existential war period. The panel of judges in the Jerusalem District Court — who oversee Cases 4000, 1000, and 2000 — reiterated their June 2023 recommendation that the prosecution dismiss the bribery charge against Netanyahu.
As The Zioneer reported earlier Monday, the judges' position is unchanged from its original formulation, which Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara and the State Attorney's Office rejected at the time. The source message, attributed to a political figure, asserts that the judges' renewed recommendation amounts to an endorsement of the same advice they gave the attorney general three years ago, which she refused to accept. The message accuses Baharav-Miara of repeatedly harming Israel's security — a claim that itself is a political opinion, not an established fact.
The testimony, which began in February and proceeded at three sessions per week, covered all three cases against Netanyahu. The trial now moves to the defense's closing arguments and then the verdict stage. The bribery charge, the most serious in Case 4000, centers on alleged regulatory benefits granted to Bezeq telecom in exchange for favorable news coverage on the Walla news site. The defense has consistently denied wrongdoing, and Netanyahu's closing courtroom remarks last week attacked the justice system as 'vile' and 'false.'
What remains unclear is whether the attorney general will alter her position in light of the judges' reaffirmed recommendation, or whether the prosecution will proceed to seek a bribery conviction against the sitting prime minister.
3 developments
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