News - Middle East: Some members of the Knesset (parliament) say Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is prolonging the war in Gaza as an excuse to stop the corruption trial against him.

“(Netanyahu) is conditioning the future of Israel and our children on his trial,” Knesset member Naama Lazimi said in a statement cited on Sunday.

The Israeli premier showed that he is unfit for office by “trading his indictment in exchange for a political settlement and an end to the war,” she stressed.

Another Israeli lawmaker, Gilad Kariv, also denounced Netanyahu and his war-mongering circle of supporters for their “willingness” to play with the security of the regime and the safety of Israeli captives to save Netanyahu from conviction in court.

Knesset member Karine Elharrar warned that Netanyahu was “acting against the Israeli public interest” by linking his legal fate with negotiations with Hamas and regional normalization agreements.

Netanyahu’s corruption trial began in May 2020. He faces multiple charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust that carry years and years of imprisonment if proven.

Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the regime’s history.

He also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and his former minister of military affairs, Yoav Gallant, for war crimes in Gaza. 

In the meantime, Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for publicly supporting him by demanding that the Israeli judicial authorities drop the long-standing charges against him.

On Wednesday, Trump posted a lengthy diatribe against Netanyahu’s trial, describing the case against him as a “ridiculous witch hunt” that was an “unheard of … horror show.”

Netanyahu, whose relationship with President Trump was reported to have been strained until the aggression against Iran, expressed his gratitude to the US president for his “heartfelt support.”

The prime minister has rejected hundreds of testimonies gathered by prosecutors against him as lies, forcefully proclaiming his innocence.

Press TV