The fact that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is running the country as his corruption trial continues no longer shocks Israelis. But maybe it should? 

Yael Freidson, Haaretz’s legal correspondent, has covered the Netanyahu trial every day since it began in 2020. On this episode of Haaretz Weekly she tells host Allison Kaplan Sommer there is no way to avoid the clear conflict of interest when a leader facing serious charges heads a government that wants to radically transform the legal system.

"There are several ways in which Netanyahu could influence the course of his trial,” she explains. Freidson also reflects on the atmosphere of the court proceedings in Jerusalem – at which Netanyahu is completely absent.

Also on the podcast, Haaretz correspondent Judy Maltz shares the experience of covering the historic mass demonstration last Monday, in which more than 100,000 Israelis flooded into Jerusalem to protest the judicial overhaul. 

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