Israel's former attorney general has testified in Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial Israel’s former attorney general took the witness stand Sunday in corruption cases against Benjamin Netanyahu, as the political future of the country's longest-serving prime minister hangs in the balance, with national elections just weeks away. Saudi Arabia, meanwhile, was on high alert after a deadly attack on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh, allegedly by Yemen’s Iran-backed Houthis. Here is the latest news from the Middle East on Saturday.
Read our full coverage here. Israel's former attorney general took the witness stand Sunday in Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial. Avichai Mandelblit indicted the prime minister seven years ago for fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes.
The charges were the first-ever against a sitting Israeli prime minister. Netanyahu was seated in the courtroom to hear Mandelblit testify. The prime minister handpicked Mandelblit, his former Cabinet secretary, for the attorney general job.
His tenure ended in 2022. Netanyahu has been accused of offering or exchanging favors with wealthy associates and media moguls for political gain. He denies any wrongdoing.
The latest proceedings come weeks before national elections. Saudi Arabia kept its main international airport closed and moved Riyadh schools online on Sunday after a deadly strike by Yemen’s Houthi rebels the day before. The rebels threatened new airstrikes across the kingdom after a missile attack on the King Khalid International Airport in Riyadh killed 12 people and wounded more than 300 on Saturday.
The Houthis have not claimed responsibility for that, but claimed two previous deadly attacks on the Riyadh airport earlier in the week. Yahya Saree, the Houthis' military spokesperson, urged “everyone to take our warnings seriously.” The airport strike marked a major escalation in the war between the Iran-backed Houthis and the kingdom, and further complicated sputtering efforts to halt the U.S.-Iran war. President Donald Trump said he was considering whether to join Saudi strikes against the rebels, a scenario that could prompt the Houthis to halt shipping through a crucial waterway and further restrict the flow of oil out of the Persian Gulf.
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