Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to appear at a court hearing on 17 March for the start of a corruption trial against him, the Israeli judiciary has announced.

The first day of the case is scheduled just two weeks after a national election on 2 March in which the prime minister is fighting to remain in power, despite the damning charges levelled against him.

After a three-year police investigation, the country’s attorney general indicted the 70-year-old leader in November in all three of the major cases against him.

He is accused of accepting hundreds of thousands of pounds in luxury gifts from billionaire associates, including litres of champagne, and for trading favours with Israeli media and telecoms moguls for positive news coverage.

In a brief statement released on Tuesday, the Israeli judiciary said the prime minister was expected to attend the initial hearing, set for 3pm.

The rightwing leader could face up to 10 years in prison if convicted of bribery and a maximum three-year term for fraud and breach of trust.

If re-elected, the trial would be the first time a sitting Israeli prime minister will fight a criminal case while in office. In 2008, the former prime minister Ehud Olmert stepped down after it appeared that he would be indicted. He later spent time in jail.

Netanyahu has forcibly denied all the allegations, dismissing the charges as “false” and “politically motivated”.

But last week, and in a blow to Netanyahu, the Jerusalem court announced that the panel of three judges that will hear his case would be led by Rivka Friedman-Feldman, who was part of the team that convicted Olmert.

While his personal freedom is on the line, Netanyahu is also scrambling for his political future after failing to secure a clear win in two inconclusive elections during the past year that have thrown the country into a political crisis.

If he is reelected in the upcoming third round, he will not be legally required to step down unless ultimately convicted. That process could take years, and his political allies have suggested passing laws to shield him from potential sentences during that time.

Support from his hardline nationalist base appears to have also held up despite the graft allegations against him.

The latest polls show opposition leader, Benny Gantz, who leads Blue and White party, marginally ahead with 36 seats to 33 for the ruling Likud party. Critically, and as happened in both the April and September election, neither candidate is predicted to have enough seats to form a parliamentary majority. If that scenario plays out again, Israel could be plunged into a fourth election campaign, extending the political turmoil well over a year.

Gantz, a former army chief, has focused his campaign on Netanyahu’s legal woes, saying the demands of the trial would make his rival an “absentee prime minister” who puts his own interest ahead of the country’s.