‘It’s a courthouse coup d’etat’: Netanyahu’s corruption trial bitterly divides Israel

Rival protests held during the prime minister's first court session underscore the growing rift in the country

The court session lasted just 50 minutes but sharply divided the nation.

Rival protests held in different parts of Jerusalem over the start of Benjamin Netanyahu’s long-awaited corruption trial offered a gloomy insight into the future of Israel, riven by bitter disagreements.

From the corridors of the courthouse, Netanyahu, the first sitting Israeli prime minister to ever stand trial, blasted the country’s judicial system for trying to “depose” him.

Flanked by a phalanx of cabinet ministers from his right-wing Likud party, he painted the picture of a plot by police and prosecutors to cook up three corruption cases.

He dismissed the charges of fraud, breach of trust and bribery as “false”, “trumped up” and “nonsense”.

"The objective is to depose a strong, right-wing prime minister, and thus remove the nationalist camp from the leadership of the country for many years," he said, his hands gripping the podium.

"These investigations were tainted and stitched-up from the first moment,” he added.

Outside, crowds of his supporters held a boisterous protest party, with people playing songs associated with the premier and chanting slogans that echoed his words.

They dismissed the charges as a left-wing conspiracy and hailed Netanyahu as “the King of Israel”.

Across town, however, the fury was as intense but starkly different.

Waving signs reading “crime minister” and “thou shall not steal”, anti-Netanyahu protesters rallied outside his residence chanting “to prison, to prison”.

Nitzan Horowitz – leader of the left-wing Meretz party – painted a bleak future of conflict.

He termed the pro-Netanyahu demonstrations and his speech as a “display of incitement”.

“It is distressing to see the prime minister attack the justice system that he is in charge of. It is a disgrace,” he told The Independent.

Even the attorney general, Avichai Mandelblit, felt compelled to speak out.

"We will continue to act without fear, even against the preposterous attempts to associate non-professional interests to law enforcement agencies," he said.

“All are equal in front of the law”.

The appearance in court of Mr Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving prime minister, caps a tricky period in Israel, which has limped through the last year or so with a caretaker government after three unprecedented and inconclusive elections.

Mr Netanyahu, now in power for over a decade, arrived in court just a week after being sworn in for a record fifth term after cobbling together an eleventh-hour unity government with his main electoral rival, Benny Gantz.

The former army chief had headed up a centrist alliance Blue and White, whose key campaign promise was to oust Netanyahu.

But with the prospect of a fourth election on the horizon, Gantz decided to join forces with his arch-rival, even after Netanyahu was indicted across three cases.

Under the agreement, Netanyahu stays in office until November 2021 with Gantz as “alternate prime minister”; after that Gantz will take over, and the pair swap places.

The emergency government, and the power-sharing deal that delivered it, has been roundly rejected by Gantz’s former allies. They accuse him of selling himself out to Netanyahu, who they claim would sacrifice anything to stay in power and so retain the legal protections that entails.

And so, while the trio of elections nastily split the nation, the court case has only widened that rift.

Israeli supporters hold flags and a poster depicting Netanyahu alongside French officer Alfred Dreyfus, who was unjustly convicted of treason in 1895 (Photo by Menahem Kahana/AFP via Getty Images) (Photo by MENAHEM KAHANA/AFP via Getty Images)

Outside the courthouse, Miri Regev, the country’s new transportation minister and one of Netanyahu's most vocal supporters, spurred the crowds on.

"Today is a sad day for Israel's democracy. The prime minister does not stand alone,” she told the rally.

Speaking to The Independent, she gave a short and simple warning for the three judges panel: “They should conduct a fair and true trial."

It was not just Netanyahu and his co-defendants on trial but the country’s entire judicial system, she said.

Esther Nissin, from Holon near Tel Aviv, her voice hoarse from chanting through megaphone, said: “They want to do a coup d’etat through a courthouse. They want to take away our vote. We have no confidence in this court.”

“Netanyahu is the best prime minister we have ever had. He gets stronger every term,” she said.

They want to do a coup d’etat through a courthouse

Esther Nissin, Netanyahu supporter 

Somewhere in the middle was Gantz, who kept largely quiet during the courtroom proceedings except to issue a carefully worded statement that clearly recognised the dangerous divide in the country.

He was one of the only voices on Sunday who spoke of unity.

"Like any other citizen, the prime minister is innocent until proven guilty, and I am confident that our justice system will give him a fair trial,” he said in the short and terse missive.

“Now, perhaps more than ever, we must move towards unity and conciliation, as a country and as a society, for the state of Israel and all of its citizens."