Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have to be present at the opening of his corruption trial on Sunday, a Jerusalem court confirmed on Wednesday.
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Benjamin Netanyahu had asked for a waiver so as not to have to appear at this hearing, despite the opinion of the Ministry of Justice which requires his presence. The opinion of the ministry not having the force of law, it is the court of Jerusalem, which will judge the Prime Minister, who was to decide. In its decision, the Jerusalem Magistrates' Court cited a clause in Israeli criminal law that " a person can only be tried on criminal charges in his presence." "
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Sunday's hearing is intended to read the indictment " the details of which are well known to our client ", according to lawyers for Benjamin Netanyahu, believing that this justifies his absence. Benjamin Netanyahu was charged in November with corruption, fraud and breach of trust in three cases. One of these cases, called “ 4000 ” or “ Bezeq ”, named after an Israeli telecoms group, is particularly sensitive to the Prime Minister.
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In this case, justice suspects him of having granted government favors which could have brought millions of dollars to the boss of the Israeli company Bezeq in exchange for favorable media coverage of one of the group's media, the Walla site. The Prime Minister - officially returned to power last Sunday in favor of a union government with his former electoral rival Benny Gantz - pleads his innocence in these three cases and denounces a plot hatched by the Justice against him.