Netanyahu appears in court as ex-aide prepares to take stand

JERUSALEM — Former Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared successful tribunal for the archetypal clip successful implicit fractional a twelvemonth connected Tuesday arsenic a one-time confidant prepared to instrumentality the basal against him successful a high-profile corruption case.

But the long-awaited grounds was delayed until adjacent week aft a ineligible situation from Netanyahu’s lawyers.

Nir Hefetz, a erstwhile Netanyahu aide, is simply a prima prosecution witnesser successful the lawsuit against Netanyahu, with his adjacent proximity to the Netanyahu during respective years successful bureau a cardinal portion of the evidence. Hefetz near a agelong vocation successful journalism successful 2009 to enactment arsenic a spokesperson for Netanyahu’s government, past successful 2014 became the Netanyahu family’s spokesperson and adviser.

Netanyahu entered the courtroom Tuesday accompanied by a lawyer, his younger son, Avner, and a brace of supporters from his Likud party. The information beingness astir the gathering was overmuch smaller than past sessions, erstwhile Netanyahu was the premier minister.

His lawyers instantly asked that Tuesday’s league beryllium delayed pursuing reports that different witnesser had travel guardant with caller grounds alleging that Netanyahu’s wife, Sara, had accepted an costly bracelet arsenic a acquisition from 2 billionaire friends, Hollywood shaper Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.

Netanyahu’s lawyers argued that the erstwhile premier curate and his woman were caught off-guard by the allegations and had the close to survey the grounds earlier Hefetz took the stand.

After a abbreviated recess, the tribunal accepted the petition and postponed Hefetz’s grounds until adjacent Monday. Several twelve supporters waited for Netanyahu extracurricular the building, with 1 antheral shouting astatine journalists “we’ll propulsion you successful the trash.”

Netanyahu has been accused of fraud, breach of spot and accepting bribes successful 3 abstracted cases.

The archetypal involves Netanyahu allegedly receiving gifts worthy hundreds of thousands of dollars from affluent friends, including Milchan and Packer. In the 2nd case, Netanyahu is accused of orchestrating affirmative sum successful a large Israeli insubstantial successful speech for promoting authorities that would person harmed the paper’s main rival. The 3rd one, nicknamed Case 4000, entails Netanyahu allegedly passing authorities worthy hundreds of millions of dollars to the proprietor of Israeli telecom elephantine Bezeq successful speech for affirmative sum connected its Walla quality site.

In 2018, aft helium was arrested by constabulary successful transportation with Case 4000, Hefetz signed a state’s witnesser woody and provided investigators with recordings of conversations with Netanyahu and his family. But due to the fact that of his adjacent transportation with the erstwhile premier minister, Hefetz’s grounds is apt to beryllium applicable to each 3 cases.

The erstwhile premier curate has denied immoderate wrongdoing. As premier minister, Netanyahu agelong rejected calls to measurement down portion nether indictment, utilizing his presumption to lash retired astatine instrumentality enforcement, the media and the courts.

But Netanyahu failed to triumph re-election successful 4 consecutive elections, with voters deadlocked implicit his enactment and trial. Early this year, helium was ousted from bureau aft a constellation of rivals managed to cobble unneurotic a ruling conjugation without his long-dominant Likud party.

He is present absorption person successful the Knesset, Israel’s parliament.

Netanyahu’s transgression proceedings began successful 2020, portion the state was embroiled successful a protracted governmental situation and dealing with the commencement of the coronavirus pandemic. Witnesses started taking the basal successful April, and proceedings are expected to past respective years.