Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu appeared in a Tel Aviv courtroom on Wednesday for another hearing in his ongoing corruption trial, a case that has shadowed his political career since it began in May 2020.

Netanyahu, accompanied by several ministers from his Likud party, maintained a calm smile as protesters jeered outside the courthouse. His appearance came just days after US President Donald Trump publicly suggested that the Israeli leader should be pardoned in the three separate corruption cases against him.

“Cigars and champagne, who the hell cares about that?” Trump said during an address to Israel’s parliament, the Knesset, on Monday. Turning to President Isaac Herzog, he added, “Why don’t you give him a pardon?”

The court hearing also follows the recent return of hostages captured by Hamas, part of a US-brokered plan led by Trump to end the war in Gaza.

Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, are accused in one case of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury gifts including cigars, champagne, and jewelry from wealthy businessmen in exchange for political favors.

In two other cases, prosecutors say Netanyahu sought favorable media coverage from Israeli outlets in return for regulatory or business benefits. He has denied all charges, calling the trial a politically motivated attempt to remove him from power.

During his current term, which began in late 2022, Netanyahu pushed for sweeping judicial reforms that critics said would weaken Israel’s courts, reforms that triggered months of mass protests before being overshadowed by the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel and the subsequent war in Gaza.

The prime minister also faces an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant on allegations of war crimes tied to Israel’s military operations in Gaza.

Netanyahu, Israel’s longest-serving leader, has spent a combined 18 years in office since first becoming prime minister in 1996, weathering repeated political and legal storms while maintaining a firm grip on power.