Despite the country’s ongoing war in Gaza, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial continued on Monday.
According to Israeli officials, the trial was suspended two months ago owing to the Palestinian militant group Hamas’s devastating October 7 onslaught on southern Israel, which killed 1,200 people and kidnapped 240 more.
Netanyahu, the leader of Israel’s right-wing Likud party, is accused of deception and breach of trust in connection with his relationships with Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and other affluent individuals.
Prosecutors suspect that between 2007 and 2016, Netanyahu accepted gifts totaling 700,000 shekels ($195,000), including boxes of cigars, bottles of champagne, and jewelry, in exchange for financial or personal favors.
Netanyahu, Israel’s first sitting prime minister to face prosecution, rejects any misconduct, claiming that gifts were only taken from friends and that he had not requested them.
His lawyers announced in October 2019 that they had gotten an expert legal opinion concluding that he has the right to accept presents from close friends.
Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, is suspected of advocating a tax proposal in exchange for millions of dollars from Milchan. This idea has since been vetoed by the finance ministry.