Yamina MK: Netanyahu is to blame for the sickness of the justice system - Defense/Security

"A day on which the Israeli Prime Minister sits on the defendant’s bench is a sad day for the State of Israel," says MK Matan Kahana.

MK Matan Kahana (Yamina) on Sunday commented on the start of Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu's trial, saying that the judicial system must undergo significant reform in order to restore public confidence in it.

“A day on which the Israeli Prime Minister sits on the defendant’s bench is a sad day for the State of Israel. The Prime Minister has the presumption of innocence,” Kahana said.

“Our judicial system must undergo significant reform in order to restore public confidence in it. The main culprit in the sickness of the judiciary is Netanyahu, who stopped with his body any reform that was proposed," he added.

Earlier on Sunday, MK May Golan (Likud) spoke to Arutz Sheva following the completion of the opening day of deliberations, saying, "We came to support the Prime Minister, the people of Israel, and the right-wing camp whose [rights] are being taken away."

"This is a black day for Israeli democracy, a day when someone who has served as Prime Minister for over a decade and who has devoted his life to the State of Israel is standing trial for trumped up charges. So I'm left asking: What's next? Will voting for the right be banned in the future as well? Maybe we'll be tried for doing so? That's the feeling I'm getting right now."

Netanyahu attacked the judicial system upon arriving at the court, denouncing the investigations and resulting trial as a legal witch-hunt aimed at deposing him, calling the process an attempted “coup”.

"I'm here with a straight back and my head held high," Netanyahu said at a press conference shortly before the opening of his trial, rejecting charges against him as “ludicrous”.

"When you're trying to take down a strong Prime Minister from the right, everything is possible," he added.

"I ask for everything to be broadcast live and uncensored so that the public will know," he said.