JERUSALEM (AP) — Hundreds of Israelis protested against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Saturday, calling on the long-serving leader to resign just days after the country was plunged into a new national election. The protesters have been gathering outside Netanyahu’s Jerusalem residence for months, slamming him for his handling of the coronavirus pandemic and saying he cannot lead the country while under indictment for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three separate corruption cases. Netanyahu denies wrongdoing. The election will likely be another referendum on Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader and also one of its most polarizing. It will come just after Netanyahu’s trial enters its evidentiary stage, which will likely lodge the corruption charges against him firmly in the public discourse during what is expected to be a bitter, divisive campaign.

Source: Daily Sun December 26, 2020 20:03 UTC