Abdel Raouf Arnaout and Betul Yilmaz
02 April 2025•Update: 02 April 2025
JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Wednesday appeared before the Tel Aviv District Court for the 21st time in his corruption trial.
Netanyahu appears twice a week before the court to defend himself against corruption charges.
According to Israeli media, the premier is scheduled to attend 24 court sessions in total.
Netanyahu faces three separate corruption cases filed against him in 2019—Case 1,000, Case 2,000, and Case 4,000—which include accusations of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “fake
Netanyahu, whose trial began on May 24, 2020, is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history.
Under Israeli law, he is not required to resign unless convicted by the Supreme Court, a process that could take several months.
Netanyahu also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where more than 50,300 people, mostly women and children, have been killed since Oct. 7, 2023.
