Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in court on Monday at the start of his long-awaited corruption trial, while rival parties on the other side of the city began negotiations to try to form a government again after another election stalemate.
The legal and political processes became intertwined as Israel wrestled with the reality of a prime minister who is accused – and has not yet been able to form a stable government in two years – and yet won by far the most votes during the election. on March 23. .
Netanyahu, 71, is sitting cross-legged when prosecutors make his opening statement against him on charges of fraud, bribery and breach of trust. At the heart of their case is the allegation that he awarded illegal favors to powerful businessmen in exchange for positive media coverage.
“The case before the Honorable Court today is an important and serious case of government corruption,” said Liat Ben-Ari, the chief prosecutor. She accused the prime minister of “using the power of his office to advance his personal desires” and said prosecutors would offer a “tapestry” of evidence.
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Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and has denounced the prosecution as a politically motivated ‘witch hunt’ against him. The prime minister passed the prosecutors’ opening statement, but left before evidence began.
Dozens of pro- and anti-Netanyahu protesters gathered outside the Jerusalem District Court during the trial. “I came here to support, support and strengthen my great leader,” said Meir Azarzar, a Netanyahu supporter.
A heavy police presence surrounded the building while Netanyahu’s bodyguards entered the courtroom with him. The trial is set to take place three days a week and it will likely take weeks for the three-judge panel to rule. There is no jury.
A few kilometers further, Israeli President Reuven Rivlin began meetings with representatives of the political parties that won seats during last month’s election. The election – Israel’s fourth in two years – ends without a majority for Netanyahu’s right – wing bloc or the opposition coalition determined to oust him.
The president’s role is usually ceremonial. With no clear result of the election, Rivlin falls to decide who should get the first opportunity to try to form a government.
Already when he started the process, Rivlin made a pessimistic remark about the chances that someone could plow a majority.
“At the moment I can not see a way to form a coalition,” he said in comments. He added: “After four election campaigns, democracy has exhausted itself.”
If no one is able to form a coalition, Israel will continue for its fifth election since April 2019 and continue an unprecedented period of political chaos in the Jewish state.
Netanyahu’s Likud party emerged from the election with 30 seats, making it by far the largest party. But even with the support of various nationalist and religious parties, Netanyahu still lacks only the 61 seats he needs for a majority government.
Likud’s delegation to the president was led by Justice Minister Amir Ohana, who noted that more than 1 million Israelis had voted for Netanyahu despite the charges against him. “I think they expressed a high level of trust in him and a lack of trust in others,” he said.
The second largest party after Likud is the centrist Yesh Atid, who won 17 seats. The party’s leader, former journalist Yair Lapid, has the support of smaller liberal parties, but could not unite the anti-Netanyahu coalition under his leadership.
“When we have a prime minister who is currently defending himself, we need a candidate who will work for the sake of the state of Israel,” Orna Barbivai, head of the Yesh Atid delegation, told the president.
Rivlin is expected to decide on Wednesday whether to grant the mandate to Netanyahu, Lapid or possibly someone else. Whoever is elected will have 28 days to try to form a majority government.
In a surprise election turnaround, a small Islamic party called the United Arab List won four seats and may hold the balance of power in the next Israeli parliament. Both Netanyahu’s bloc and the opposition gave the party the court in hopes of winning their support.
However, in the complex jigsaw puzzle of Israeli politics, winning the support of an Arab party can alienate other Jewish parties, which means that prospective leaders could possibly gain support from one direction, only to lose it in another.