Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, center, is flanked by lawyers before testimony by star witness Nir Hefetz, a former aide, in Netanyahu’s corruption trial at the District Court in east Jerusalem, November 22, 2021. Maya Alleruzzo/Pool via REUTERS

i24 News – Former Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu published a video on Monday in which he vowed to remain leader of the Likud Party, stressing that he did not agree to the “moral turpitude” clause of the proposed plea deal.

The moral turpitude clause would have prevented Netanyahu from running for office for seven years.

In his first public comments regarding the plea deal, he rejected media reports that he agreed to the moral turpitude clause.

אזרחי ישראל היקרים והאהובים, בימים האחרונים הוכחתם שוב שאני לא צועד לבד, ושמיליונים מכם צועדים יחד איתי. ריגשתם אותי מאוד. אני אמשיך להוביל את הליכוד ואת המחנה הלאומי כדי להנהיג את מדינת ישראל – בשליחותכם! 🇮🇱 pic.twitter.com/nBFNdVdh9g

— Benjamin Netanyahu – בנימין נתניהו (@netanyahu) January 24, 2022

“Citizens of Israel, in recent days, you’ve proven once again that I’m not alone and that millions of you are with me,” Netanyahu said in the video.

“You’ve deeply moved me. I’ll keep leading Likud and the national camp. The entire public sees what’s happening in court and the investigation against me was led. That should have been enough to close the files against me,” he continued.

“In recent days, a false claim that I had agreed to accept a moral turpitude finding was published, alongside many others. It’s simply untrue.”

Netanyahu is on trial in Jerusalem District Court on charges of fraud, bribery, and breach of trust.

Sources have said that Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit would not agree to a deal without the moral turpitude clause, The Jerusalem Post reported.