Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has concluded his testimony in his graft trials, a justice ministry spokeswoman told AFP on Wednesday, as he grapples with a US-Iran deal widely interpreted as detrimental to the country’s interests.

Netanyahu has testified in 98 hearings since December 2024, many of them shortened or delayed upon the request of his lawyer Amit Hadad due to his security meetings, government duties or health issues.

Netanyahu is facing charges in two cases in which he allegedly negotiated favourable media coverage from Israeli news outlets, and a third involving accusations that he accepted more than $260,000 in luxury gifts from billionaires in exchange for political favours.

A fourth corruption charge was previously dismissed.

Netanyahu has long argued that the proceedings against him, which began in 2019, are a “political trial”.

After the end of the cross-examination by his lawyer Wednesday, the premier lashed out at the prosecutors, saying that he had reached the conclusion of “ten years of hell,” according to reports in the Israeli press.

Netanyahu, who has repeatedly denied any wrongdoing in the three court cases, is the first sitting Israeli prime minister to stand trial for corruption.

He is also the longest-serving premier the country has ever had, and is due to run again in a general election in October. But polls remain challenging, with a recent survey showing that a majority of Israelis want him to leave office.

Public opinion is critical of the war that Israel and the US launched on Iran in late February, whose ceasefire talks Israel was left out of, leading to a deal between Iranians and Americans viewed as unfavourable to Israel.

A recent poll by the Hebrew University of Jerusalem found that over 92 percent of Israelis believe Iran had won the war, and support for Netanyahu’s premiership plummeted from 40.5 percent in early March to 29.4 percent in June.

Public anger also remains over the security failures surrounding the October 7 attacks, continuing to weigh on his standing.