Sunday was a difficult day for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and it was a difficult day for the entire nation.
For the first time, a serving prime minister of the State of Israel sat in the dock at the start of his trial for bribery, fraud, and breach of trust.
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Benjamin Netanyahu appears for the start of his trial at Jerusalem District Court on Sunday
(Photo: Amit Shabi)
No one wanted to witness such a spectacle and the prime minister did everything he possibly could to avoid it, fighting tooth and nail, using legitimate and illegitimate means.
After realizing he could not avoid the humiliation of an indictment, he turned his efforts to ensure he arrived at his trial as the sitting prime minister.
If any of us were wondering why Netanyahu would go to such lengths, Sunday's attack on the prosecution gave us the answer.
In his speech, Netanyahu did not hold anything back. Flanked by ministers silenced by face masks and vying for a position near the leader - so that Likud voters would see their devotion and reward them for it - the prime minister put on a surreal horror show.
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Benjamin Netanyahu attacks the police and the prosecution before his criminal trial begins at the Jerusalem District Court
(Photo: Flash90)
It was no longer his minions who lashed out at the attorney general and the prosecution, no longer his ministers rushing to do the boss's bidding and attacking the former chief of police.
It was Netanyahu himself who voiced the accusations, the innuendos and the threats, even towards those who will be deciding his fate.
This was not the speech of a man facing his worst crisis, these were not words uttered in pain. This was a well-planned event and a carefully prepared tirade.
For 15 minutes, Netanyahu compared himself to Alfred Dreyfus, a French Jewish officer who was convicted of treason against his native France by an anti-Semitic regime.
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Supporters of Benjamin Netanyahu protest outside Jerusalem District Court. One of the posters compares the prime minister to Alfred Dreyfus
(Photo: AFP)
He accused the entire legal system in Israel of colluding against him to depose him and circumvent the will of the voters.
He claimed the Israeli right was accused with him, but they were not. The right did not accept received hundreds of thousands of dollars' worth of gifts including expensive cigars, champagne and jewels. He did.
And after his attempts to cast suspicion on the very people he had appointed to head the police and the judiciary, these institutions are now under threat.
I hope he is found innocent. I hope he clears his name, but it is up to the court to decide his fate - not his base.