Entire streets in East Jerusalem closed hours before Netanyahu’s arrival at the District Court

Crazy media scrum now on the 2nd floor of the Jerusalem District Court. But Netanyahu and the session will be on the 3rd floor.

The media will watch the opening session of the Netanyahu trial on CCTV screens on the 2nd floor

Likud ministers and MKs arriving at the court to support Netanyahu. Meanwhile his motorcade arrives outside and the mobile phone reception is down for a few minutes

On the floor above us, Netanyahu is giving his pre-trial statement accusing the investigators and prosecutors of leading a “tainted process” and trying to “bring me down”

Netanyahu now in his pre-trial statement is demanding that the judges allow the trial to be broadcast live. That’s one thing that the media here agree with him.

Netanyahu has now been speaking for 10 minutes in the Jerusalem District Court, about to go in to his trial, now going through a long list of allegations against the police and state prosecutors. No one there interrupt or ask any questions because the media are all one floor down

Netanyahu and the other defendants are now in the courtroom with their lawyers. Judges about to come in. The chanting of his supporters can be heard quite clearly from the street.

Netanyahu is in the court waiting for the judges, speaking with his lawyers but he’s still standing, so as not to give the press photographers a frame of him sitting on the defendants bench before the judges come in and they’re ordered to leave.

10 minutes late, the judges have finally sat down in courtroom 317 and criminal case no.64010 The State of Israel vs Benjamin Netanyahu has started

The last frame taken by the media before being sent out of the courtroom of Netanyahu facing the presiding judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman

Netanyahu’s lawyer Fettman now listing in the court the incomplete and late arrival of the evidence against him. He’s adding that the representation “hasn’t yet been settled” (he hasn’t yet been paid)

Netanyahu’s lawyer Fettman now saying it will take the defense team at least “two or three months” to make any preliminary requests to the court as “I am blessed to be ignorant” of the full extent of the charges.

Netanyahu’s lawyer Fettman says that his colleagues representing the other defendants think they need until January to study the evidence but Netanyahu’s team needs “three additional months to prepare an appropriate defense for the prime minister”

Elovich (defendant 2) lawyer Jack Chen now up demanding more time as well “this is a mega-case” and is complaining about “main prosecution witnesses” giving interviews in the media. Says the state prosecutors need to warn their witnesses to prevent “a simultaneous trial by media”

Ms Elovich (defendant 3) lawyer Rosen-Ozer up now. Arguing “the prosecution has had much more time than us with the evidence” and claims there is “a mountain of evidence... 230 binders in Case 4000, not including digital evidence... we were told to prepare a terra-sized drive”