Netanyahu testifies in court as Israeli troops operate in a buffer zone in Syria
World
Netanyahu testifies in court as Israeli troops operate in a buffer zone in Syria
NEW YORK (Dunya News) - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is testifying in his long-running trial for alleged corruption.
Meanwhile Saudi Arabia and Egypt have condemned Israel’s incursion into a buffer zone in Syria established after the 1973 Mideast war and a wave of Israeli airstrikes launched after the overthrow of President Bashar Assad.
Israel said the move was temporary and was taken to prevent any cross-border attacks after Syrian troops withdrew.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu lashed out at media during testimony at his corruption trial, which involves media moguls.
“There has never been such a biased media in any democracy … as there is in Israel,” Netanyahu told the court, describing his testy relationship with the press.
He is accused of exchanging regulatory favors with media bosses for more positive coverage of himself and his family. He has denied wrongdoing.
The U.N. envoy for Syria says armed groups that drove out President Bashar Assad have “been sending good messages” about national unity and inclusiveness but acknowledges that a Security Council resolution still counts the leading one as a terrorist group.
With Syria’s future and stability still very much in flux since Assad’s departure over the weekend, Geir Pedersen suggested that the international community needs to help the country get through this turbulent moment.
“We are still in what I would call a very fluid period. Things are not settled,” Pedersen told reporters at U.N. offices in Geneva on Tuesday. “There are there is a real opportunity for change, but this opportunity needs to be grasped by the Syrians themselves and supported by the U.N. and the international community.”
Referring to Israeli military strikes in Syria, Pedersen said it was “extremely important that we now don’t see any action from any international country that destroys the possibility for this transformation in Syria to take place.”
