Taking stand, PM says allegations he used position for his own enjoyment ‘simply ridiculous’

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, taking the stand in his corruption trial, responds to allegations that he demanded champagne and cigars and exploited his position to receive thousands of shekels of benefits.

“This is total lies. I work 17, 18 hours a day. Everyone who knows me knows this,” he says. “That’s how I work. I eat my meals at my work table, it’s not cordon bleu, it’s not waiters coming with white gloves.”

Netanyahu says that he works “around the clock, I go to bed at 1 or 2 at night, I have almost no time to see my family, see my children, which is a big price to pay.”

The prime minister says that “sometimes I sit with a cigar, and I can’t smoke it all at once because I smoke them between meetings.” He adds, “I hate champagne, I can’t drink it.”

During the time between his terms in office as prime minister, Netanyahu says, “I had freedom, I went with my family to Disneyland, to Australia, we went on excursions, it was great.”

However, he says, “public service called to me… and I asked myself, what am I doing? I asked myself at age 50: ‘Is this the purpose of your life? Is this what you inherited from your father?”

He calls accusations that he is seeking “enjoyment and leisure” to be “simply ridiculous.”