Netanyahu, the leader of the right-wing Likud party, is the Israeli regime’s first sitting prime minister to be charged with corruption.

He dismissed the charges against him on Tuesday and railed against hostile media for hounding him for years because of his hawkish security policies.

Prosecutors have charged Netanyahu, 75, with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate cases.

He has denied wrongdoing, condemning the charges as a “witch-hunt” orchestrated by the media and a biased legal system that seeks to remove him from power.

In addition to the corruption charges, Netanyahu has faced a growing wave of public outrage over his handling of the war in Gaza, most notably his inability to bring back the Israeli captives taken by Hamas on October 7, 2023.

Families of the Israeli captives gathered outside the courtroom where Netanyahu stood trial on Tuesday, changing slogans against the prime minister.

Netanyahu had previously requested a two-week suspension of his trial after the International Criminal Court (ICC) issued an arrest warrant against him over war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.