Netanyahu in court

 

Benjamin Netanyahu speaks with his lawyers before a hearing at the district court.  He appeared in court on Monday to respond formally to corruption charges just weeks before national elections in which he hopes to extend his 12 year rule.

Photo Reuven Castro/AP

Netanyahu hopes to campaign on having pulled the country out of the pandemic through one of the world's most successful vaccination campaigns.  He boasts of having personally secured millions of doses from major drug makers, allowing Israel to vaccinate more than a third of its population of 9.3 million.  He hopes to vaccinate the entire adult population by late March.