Israeli court: Netanyahu corruption trial to begin in March

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s
corruption trial will begin on March 17, an Israeli court said Tuesday.
Netanyahu is charged with bribery, fraud and breach
of trust under a number of cases in which he is alleged to have accepted lavish
gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors for more
positive media coverage.
In a brief statement, the court said Netanyahu is
expected to attend the initial hearing.
Israel will hold its third national elections in
less than a year on March 2.
Israel’s opposition leader Benny Gantz says he will
work to mend ties with America’s Democratic Party if he wins national elections
next month.
The former army chief of staff accused Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu of neglecting bipartisan ties in favor of exclusive
support from President Donald Trump’s Republican Party.
With the country now in its third national election
in under 12 months, Netanyahu has heavily emphasized his relationship with
Trump in the past year of electioneering and has been accused of alienating
Democrats in the process. Both Gantz and Netanyahu have called for bipartisan
support for Israel in the United States.
Gantz, who leads the Blue and White party, said Monday
that it was “very important that we will emphasize the importance of bipartisan
relationship between Israel and the United States.”
Gantz, who recently met Trump at the White House,
welcomed the president’s strong support for Israel.
“But we don’t care if the American president is a
Republican or Democrat,” Gantz added. “If he is a good president for the United
States,” then that person would be a “good president for the state of Israel as
well.”
Gantz and his running mate Yair Lapid addressed a crowd
of around 1,000 mostly English speakers at an event late Monday in Tel Aviv.
Lapid said that Israel faces the task of a “rehabilitation” of ties with the
Democrats and with American Jewry in general. The American Jewish community
votes overwhelmingly Democrat.
Gantz is trying to unseat Netanyahu in the March 2
vote — after two elections in 2019 failed to yield a conclusive result.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest serving prime minister, seeks reelection while
facing indictments on corruption charges. He has denied any wrongdoing.
Pre-election polls indicate that neither Gantz nor
Netanyahu has a clear path to a parliamentary majority.