Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has taken the witness stand for the first time in his long-running corruption trial, saying he was being hounded for his hawkish security policies.

Netanyahu, 75, is Israel's first sitting prime minister to be charged with a crime. He is testifying at the same time Israel is engaged in a war in Gaza and facing possible new threats posed by regional turmoil, including in Syria.

Last week, judges ruled that Netanyahu, indicted in 2019, must testify three times a week, forcing the longtime Israeli leader to juggle between the courtroom and the war room at Israel's Defence Ministry, minutes away from the courthouse.

He took the stand for about four hours and will resume testifying on Wednesday. Twice his military secretary handed him written messages, the first time requiring a recess and underscoring his having to do double duty as prime minister.

The leader of the right-wing Likud party, Netanyahu assailed the Israeli media for what he called its leftist stance and accused journalists of having hounded him for years because his policies did not align with a push for a Palestinian state.

"I have been waiting for eight years for this moment to tell the truth," Netanyahu told the three-judge court.

“But I am also a prime minister ... I am leading the country through a seven-front war. And I think the two can be done in parallel."

Netanyahu was indicted in three cases involving gifts from millionaire friends and for allegedly seeking regulatory favours for media tycoons in return for favourable news coverage. He denies any wrongdoing and has pleaded not guilty.

"Had I wanted good coverage all I would have had to have done would be to signal toward a two-state solution. ... Had I moved two steps to the left I would have been hailed," he said.

He stood rather than sat in the witness box while testifying. In lengthy replies, he portrayed himself as a staunch defender of Israel’s security, withstanding pressures from international powers and a hostile domestic media.

Israeli journalist Suleiman Maswadeh speaks about Netanyahu's trial. – Reuters

Netanyahu smiled confidently when he entered the Tel Aviv District Court. The trial was moved from Jerusalem for undisclosed security reasons and convened in an underground courtroom.

Before Netanyahu took the stand, his lawyer Amit Hadad laid out for the judges what the defence maintains are fundamental flaws in the investigation. Prosecutors, Hadad said, "weren’t investigating a crime, they were going after a person."

A few dozen protesters gathered outdoors, some of them supporters and others demanding Netanyahu do more to negotiate the release of some 100 hostages still held by Hamas in Gaza.

Israel has been waging war in Gaza against the Palestinian militant group for more than a year, during which Netanyahu had been granted a delay for the start of his court appearances. Last Thursday, judges ruled that he must start testifying.

In the run-up to his court date, Netanyahu revived familiar pre-war rhetoric against law enforcement, describing investigations against him as a witch hunt.

Netanyahu's son Avner sits inside the courtroom in Tel Aviv before the hearing. – Reuters

Before the war, Netanyahu's legal troubles bitterly divided Israelis and shook Israeli politics through five rounds of elections. His government's bid last year to curb the powers of the judiciary further polarised Israelis.

The shock Hamas attack on Israel on October 7, 2023, and the ensuing Gaza war swept Netanyahu's trial off the public agenda as Israelis came together in grief and trauma. But as the war dragged on, political unity crumbled.

In recent weeks, while fighting abated on one front after Israel reached a ceasefire with Hamas' Lebanese ally Hezbollah, members of Netanyahu's cabinet, including his justice and police ministers, have clashed with the judiciary.

His domestic legal woes were compounded last month when the International Criminal Court issued an arrest warrant for him and his former defence chief Yoav Gallant along with a Hamas leader, for alleged war crimes in the Gaza conflict.

Demonstrators protest against Prime Minster Benjamin Netanyahu outside the court. – AP

A look at the ongoing trial

Where does Netanyahu's trial stand?

The trial, which began in 2020, involves three separate cases in which prosecutors say Netanyahu exchanged regulatory favours with media titans for favourable press coverage and advanced the personal interests of a billionaire Hollywood producer in exchange for lavish gifts.

Prosecutors have called roughly 140 witnesses to the stand – fewer than the 300 initially expected to testify.

Those witnesses have included some of Netanyahu's closest former confidants who turned against him, as well as a former prime minister, former security chiefs and media personalities.

Lawyers have submitted thousands of items of evidence – recordings, police documents, text messages.

The prosecution called to the stand its final witness over the summer, bringing to an end three years of testimony and setting the stage for the defence to lay out its case, with Netanyahu its first witness.

Netanyahu's appearance will give Israelis a chance to see the long-serving Israeli leader answer to the charges before the three-judge panel.

What are some notable moments from Netanyahu's trial?

The prosecution has sought to portray Netanyahu as media-obsessed, to push its narrative that he would break the law for favourable coverage.

Witness accounts have shed light not only on the three cases but also on details about Netanyahu's character and his family's reputation for living lavishly on the backs of taxpayers and wealthy supporters.

One former aide and a key prosecution witness called him a "control freak" over his image. Another witness described expensive gifts for Netanyahu and his wife.

Arnon Milchan, an Israeli producer of Hollywood blockbuster films took the stand last year by videoconference, describing how he routinely delivered gifts to the Israeli leader.

One key witness, a former top aide to Netanyahu, stunned prosecutors by backtracking from his earlier claims against the prime minister, opening the door for the defence to erode his credibility as a witness.

The trial was jolted by Israeli media reports that police used sophisticated phone-hacking software to spy on this witness.

What happens next in Netanyahu's trial?

The prosecution formally rested its case in July, and the court recessed for the summer and fall.

The defence has repeatedly asked for delays in Netanyahu's testimony, which have mostly been denied.

Like other witnesses, Netanyahu will testify three days a week, for hours at a time, and his testimony is expected to last weeks.

The defence will seek to depict Netanyahu as a law-abiding leader who was a victim of careless and biased police investigations.

Netanyahu's critics have sought to draw a clear line between the cases and the war in Gaza.

They say the allegations led Netanyahu to promote a contentious judicial overhaul plan last year that bitterly divided the country and created an image of weakness that encouraged the October 7 Hamas attack that triggered the war.

Netanyahu's critics, including families of hostages held by Hamas, now accuse him of dragging out the conflict – and risking the lives of their loved ones – to avoid an embarrassing investigation and new elections that could force him from power.

If he is eventually voted out of power, being away from the prime minister's seat would make it harder for Netanyahu to rail against the justice system and delegitimise the verdict in the eyes of the public.

A verdict isn't expected until 2026 – at least – and then Netanyahu can choose to appeal to the Supreme Court. Israel's courts are notoriously sluggish, and the case was further delayed last year when courts went on hiatus for two months after war broke out following Hamas' October 7 attack.

Once the defence rests, each side will summarise their cases before judges convene to deliberate over Netanyahu's fate.