After surgery, Netanyahu requests two-week postponement of corruption trial testimony
Defense attorney provides court with documents showing that PM’s doctors told him to rest at home for two weeks following the prostate removal operation
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested on Friday a further two-week postponement of the continuation of his testimony in his ongoing criminal trial as he recovers from prostate surgery. He underwent surgery Sunday to have his prostate removed.
Netanyahu’s attorney Amit Hadad noted in a letter to the Tel Aviv District Court that the prime minister was released from the hospital on Thursday and that the discharge instructions stipulated home rest for two weeks.
Hadad added that relevant medical documents were passed along to the court and that the State Attorney’s Office agreed to the delay.
The prime minister was put under full anesthetic on Sunday for his surgery. The court agreed to cancel the hearings scheduled for the week because Netanyahu was expected to remain in the hospital for several days. Nevertheless, the premier briefly left the hospital on Tuesday to cast the deciding vote in the Knesset for a budget bill amid coalition squabbling.
The court did not immediately respond to the latest postponement request. Soon after the surgery, the court said hearings were expected to resume on Monday, January 6.
Netanyahu began his testimony on December 10 and has so far testified for six days. Hadad has questioned him in painstaking detail about the intricacies of just one of the three cases against the prime minister.
Last week, the trial’s judges convened a hearing in an attempt to expedite proceedings, which have dragged on at a snail’s pace since the start of Netanyahu’s testimony at the beginning of December.
While hinting that they will not allow any amendments to the indictment, the judges requested that the defense and prosecution establish some areas of agreement about the facts, and asked Hadad to give an estimate on how long he expects the testimony on the case — one of three the premier faces — will take.
“Can you give us an estimate of the time? How many days will you take for direct examination?” asked Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman, who heads the panel of judges.
Hadad said he needed to think and would get back to the judges later, explaining, “We’re going through the incidents year-by-year. We’ve gone through a year and a half out of four. I don’t know. I’ll give you an estimate at the next hearing. I don’t want to pull something out of nowhere.”
The judges instructed the defense and prosecution to arrange together some means of expediting the proceedings, and to update the court once they’d come to an agreement, according to the Ynet news site.
Netanyahu’s current testimony is over charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000, involving the Walla news site and its owner Shaul Elovitch. The prosecution alleges Walla gave Netanyahu favorable coverage in return for his assistance on regulatory matters.
The indictment accusing Netanyahu of such a quid pro quo lists 315 examples of instances in which Netanyahu, his family members, or associates sought improved coverage from Walla. Hadad has insisted on reviewing each one during the testimony.
In his most recent testimony last week, Netanyahu maintained that he approved the regulatory decisions at the heart of the allegations against him as a pro forma step, and that he had no idea at the time of their significance to Elovitch.
Even before his surgery delayed proceedings, Netanyahu’s testimony was expected to last several weeks, possibly months, given its current pace.
During Netanyahu’s surgery, Justice Minister Yariv Levin was tapped as acting premier and Defense Minister Israel Katz was authorized to convene the National Security Cabinet if needed.
The prime minister’s operation came after he underwent a test at Hadassah Hospital on December 25 that revealed a urinary tract infection stemming from a benign enlargement of the prostate.
According to the Mayo Clinic website, patients who undergo a prostatectomy usually leave the hospital after one to two days, but “likely” are discharged with a catheter that is required for seven to 10 days after surgery.
The website recommends patients resume activity “slowly over time,” adding that patients can be back to their “usual routine in about 4 to 6 weeks.”
The charges against Netanyahu
Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000. In Case 4000, he faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust.
Case 1000 revolves around allegations that Netanyahu and his wife, Sara, illicitly received expensive gifts from Hollywood media mogul Arnon Milchan worth some NIS 700,000, and that Netanyahu violated conflict of interest laws when he provided Milchan with assistance in renewing his long-term US residency visa and sought to help him with tax issues.
In Case 2000, the prime minister is accused of fraud and breach of trust over his alleged attempt to reach a quid pro quo agreement with the publisher of the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper Arnon (Noni) Mozes, whereby Yedioth would give the prime minister more positive media coverage in exchange for legislation weakening its key rival, the Israel Hayom free sheet.
Case 4000, also known as the Bezeq-Walla case, is the most serious the prime minister faces, in which he is accused of authorizing regulatory decisions that financially benefited Elovitch by hundreds of millions of shekels. In return, Netanyahu allegedly received favorable media coverage from the Walla news site, which Elovitch also owned.
Netanyahu denies wrongdoing and says the charges were fabricated in an attempted political coup led by the police and state prosecution.
