Netanyahu Testifies In His Corruption Trial [VIDEO]

Haaretz reports:

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is testifying in his criminal trial for the first time on Tuesday, eight years after the investigations into him were first opened.

He faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust across three different corruption cases.

Netanyahu’s testimony follows years of investigations, deliberations, legal proceedings, and delays. He becomes the first sitting prime minister in Israeli history to take the witness stand as a defendant.

The Jerusalem Post reports:

The public corruption trial is a “chance to refute the ridiculous charges” against him, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told the court at the beginning of his testimony on Tuesday morning. “I waited eight years for this,” he said, “to say the truth as I remember.” He called the charges “an ocean of absurdity.”

Netanyahu criticized the timing of the trial while Israel is at war: “I am the prime minister, and am managing a country and the IDF during a war.” He said that he “thought the court could have balanced [his] time better than [making him] testifying three times per week.”

The video below is live.