By GIL HOFFMANPrime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu recommends Israelis use the namaste greeting to avoid contracting coronavirus at a press conference in Jerusalem on March 4(photo credit: MARC ISRAEL SELLEM)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced ahead of his trial that he would ask the court to broadcast his entire trial live.Speaking outside the court house, Netanyahu said broadcasting his trial was necessary so there would be full transparency and the public would know the entire truth behind his cases. He repeatedly charged that his criminal cases were intended to bring him down, because he is right-wing. "The police, prosecution, press and the Left and the legal establishment joined together to bring me down, because I do not want to evacuate Jewish communities in Judea and Samaria," Netanyahu said. "They don't like it that I am not a poodle." Netanyahu said Holocaust survivors had told him that "Wolves are trying to devour you."Netanyahu said the announcement of the indictments against him were intended to prevent him from winning the last two elections. He said that effort did not work and he only got more support in a vote of confidence in himself.Speaking alongside Likud ministers and MKs, Netanyahu said it was a farce that after enduring decades of bad press, he was being charged with receiving positive news coverage. He quoted legal scholar Alan Dershowitz saying that if Netanyahu would be convicted on that charge, it would send a bad precedent internationally.The prime minister suggested that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit advanced his cases, because of his own legal problems in the Harpaz Affair. He called for permitting the broadcasting of all the tapes in the affair.Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White) said that everyone, including the prime minister, has the right to prove his innocence."I am sure the legal establishment will ensure that there will be a just trial," Gantz said. "My colleagues and I have complete trust in the legal establishment and the law enforcement authorities."At this time, perhaps more than ever we must act as a state and as a society for unity and reconciliation for Israel and all its citizens."
The ministers who came to the court to support Netanyahu included Amir Ohana, Miri Regev, Tzachi Hanegbi, Tzipi Hotovely Eli Cohen, David Amsalem and Yoav Galant."I am here to strengthen Netanyahu and his family," Regev said. "It’s a sad day for Israeli democracy. It’s not just Netanyahu. All of his supporters are on trial. I hope the judges do justice and do not fall in the trap of the press. I believe that all of Netanyahu’s cases will collapse."Knesset Speaker Yariv Levin wrote on Facebook on Sunday that "the day that Netanyahu's trial began will be remembered as one of the lowlights in the history of the Israeli legal system." The Knesset speaker wrote that he is sure Netanyahu's cases would not lead to a conviction."I am standing on the side of the prime minister, the truth and justice," he wrote.Responding to Netanyahu's speech outside the court, presumptive opposition leader Yair Lapid called it incitement and said it proved why a defendant in a criminal trial cannot continue to serve as prime minister. Lapid slammed the various ministers who joined Netanyahu at his first court appearance at the beginning of his trial, on his official Twitter account Sunday morning."The ministers joining Netanyahu in court, even those in charge of the law enforcement, are a national disgrace," Lapid wrote. "This is the real attempt at a coup."Alex Winston contributed to this report.
