Israel's Netanyahu attacks justice system as trial begins

To the sounds of his impassioned supporters chanting outside, a defiant Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu strode into a Jerusalem courtroom on May 24 to face corruption charges in a long-awaited trial that has overshadowed three inconclusive elections and deeply divided the country.

As he entered the courthouse to become the country's first sitting prime minister to go on trial, Netanyahu launched into a lengthy tirade against the nation's justice system in which he accused police, prosecutors, judges and the media of a deep state-type conspiracy aimed to oust him against the will of the people.

"I stand before you with a straight back and head raised high," he said, surrounded by leading Cabinet ministers of his Likud party. "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."

The standoff, and Netanyahu's own fiery rhetoric, looked to worsen the nation's deep divisions just after Netanyahu swore in what he called a "unity'' government with a former rival. Critics have said Netanyahu's repeated attacks on the legal system risk irreversible damage to citizens' faith in state institutions.

Outside the courthouse, hundreds of supporters rallied in his defense, packing a narrow street while waving Israeli flags and banners denouncing what they called a corrupt prosecution seeking to topple a leader of historic proportion. Others gathered at his official residence to demonstrate against what they called a "crime minister'' and carried posters calling for his resignation. They faced off across police barricades with more of the prime minister's backers.

Netanyahu faces charges of fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in a...