Citing war, Netanyahu expected to request delaying his testimony in corruption trial

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is expected to request that the Jerusalem District Court postpone the date on which he begins to give testimony in his corruption trial, several Hebrew media reported Wednesday.

Netanyahu is scheduled to begin testifying on December 2 with the beginning of his legal team’s defense after the prosecution rested earlier this year. This testimony is expected to last several hours a day and take weeks to complete.

The prime minister is reportedly seeking to delay his testimony on the grounds that the exigencies of the ongoing, multi-front war preclude him from spending all day in court, Kan News reported

Additionally, Netanyahu’s lawyers will reportedly contend that the prime minister cannot stand trial in the Jerusalem District Court since it does not have a strong room or bomb shelter. Netanyahu’s private home was targeted in a Hezbollah drone attack earlier this month.

In July this year, Netanyahu’s legal team requested that the court postpone his testimony until March 2025 due to his need to manage the war, but the court rejected the request and set the date for December.

But an additional complication is the possibility that government watchdog groups would file petitions to the High Court of Justice to have the prime minister recused from office if he requests a delay for these reasons.

Such organizations petitioned the High Court in 2020, asking the court to rule that serving as prime minister while under indictment and on trial would be a disqualifying conflict of interest. During the hearings on that petition, the question of what would happen if Netanyahu was on trial during a war, to which his lawyers said he would be able to continue serving and fulfill his legal obligations in his trial.

Telling the Jerusalem District Court that he could not actually carry out his functions while on trial would seem to contradict his assertion to the High Court to the contrary, and this may create difficulties for Netanyahu if the issue is brought back to the court.

The prime minister has been charged with fraud and breach of trust in two cases and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a third. He was indicted almost five years ago, in January 2020, and the trial began in May of that year. He denies all the allegations against him.

Netanyahu has so far not taken the stand, though he has appeared in court on a handful of occasions. As the main defendant, Netanyahu is scheduled to be the first person to face cross-examination as the defense presents its witnesses in the three cases.