Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared this morning (Wednesday) at the Tel Aviv District Court for his 17th testimony in Case 4000.
At one point in the hearing, Netanyahu became furious, banged on the table, and raised his voice, responding to one of the judges' comments regarding the repetitive nature of the allegations against him: "I think I have the right to have a few more minutes to show the absurdity.".
In the debate over the hearing of the bribery allegations revealed in the media releases, the judges showed impatience with the repetitive questions and answers. Defense attorney Amit Haddad replied to the judges: "Each such item has many other things behind it that can be used to show how ridiculous this incident is.".
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Netanyahu was furious, banged on the table and raised his voice: "For 10 years I have been dragged on a bribery claim. People stand on the roads and shout 'bribery, fraud and breach of trust.' The bribery is based on this gift, 315 details of coverage that fall apart one after another. For this they took an entire country and put me and my family through the gates of hell, and I am here to break it down. I think it is my right to have a few more minutes to show the absurdity. I have the right to defend myself.",
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman turned to Netanyahu: "We can move forward. Mr. Netanyahu - lower your tone.".
Netanyahu responded: "I cannot accept what is being said here. I am usually a very restrained person, but here there is something that cannot be. They took our lives and made them bitter. I am fulfilling my duty as Prime Minister of Israel even at this time, coming here twice a week, but I will be given the right to clarify this matter that is based on a complete lie.
""The investigators and the prosecution did not question me about this - that means they questioned me about this indictment. Everything is based on a lie, there is malicious negligence here by the police and the prosecution. They also did not question me about 97% of the things. This thing cannot go quietly.".
