Graft case: Israeli court rejects PM Netanyahu's prayer
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Tel Aviv: An Israeli court rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s prayer to postpone giving testimony on Friday in a graft case against him. On Wednesday, US President Donald Trump said that the corruption case against the Zionist state’s premier should be dropped, Agence France-Presse reported.
On Thursday, Netanyahu had prayed before the court that it should excuse him from hearings for two weeks because there were “security issues” he needed to concentrate on. But the Jerusalem district court said in a judgment, "in its current form, (his request) does not provide a basis or detailed justification for the cancellation of the hearings". The judgment is available online.
Donald Trump claimed on Wednesday that the corruption case against Netanyahu is a “witch hunt” and the trial "should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero".
As per the case, Netanyahu and his wife were accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours. An AFP report said that two more cases accused him of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets.
On another note, Netanyahu and Defence Minister Israel Katz emphatically rejected a report in the left-leaning Israeli daily Haaretz on Friday, which claimed Israeli soldiers were ordered to shoot at Palestinians approaching aid sites inside Gaza. They called the report's findings “malicious falsehoods designed to defame” the military, the Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile in Gaza, at least 60 people were killed across the enclave by Israeli strikes, health workers said Saturday, as Palestinians face a growing humanitarian crisis.
The strikes began late Friday and continued into Saturday morning.
More than 500 Palestinians have been killed and hundreds more wounded while seeking food since the newly formed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation began distributing aid in the territory about a month ago, according to Gaza's Health Ministry.
