Court agrees to postpone Netanyahu’s testimony by another week for medical reasons
PM, who is recovering from surgery, received insufficient rest due to ‘extraordinary and humanitarian’ circumstances amid hostage talks, says attorney; next hearing set for Jan. 27

The Jerusalem District Court on Friday agreed to postpone by another week the testimony of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu in his criminal trial, due to “post-operative medical developments.” The next hearing is now set for January 27.
Netanyahu’s lawyer Amit Hadad had requested the new postponement earlier Friday, citing developments after Netanyahu underwent prostate surgery last month. According to Hadad, the premier needs an extra week of rest.
Hadad added that Netanyahu received insufficient rest over the past week due to “unusual and unexpected events” of an “extraordinary and humanitarian” nature — apparently a reference to this week’s ceasefire and hostage release deal with Hamas.
Netanyahu’s work in recent days forced the premier to “deviate from the medical advice that was given to him,” said Hadad, adding that the prosecution has not expressed opposition to the request after receiving the relevant medical documents.
The court had already granted Hadad’s previous request to allow Netanyahu two weeks off after his December 29 surgery.
According to that request, the prosecution had agreed to the deferral, “provided the doctors’ advice is implemented in full” — a thinly veiled jab at the premier, who, over his doctor’s advice, traveled to the Knesset to cast a key vote on a crucial spending bill two days after his operation.
Netanyahu’s testimony, which began on December 10, had been scheduled to take place on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays, for six hours each, until the end of December. According to Haaretz, Netanyahu has failed to testify three times a week since his testimony began.
The testimony’s start was delayed by eight days after Netanyahu’s legal team said it hadn’t had enough time to prepare, and the court canceled Netanyahu’s December 17 hearing due to his visit that day to Mount Hermon following the fall of Syrian President Bashar al-Assad.

While Netanyahu’s critics say he should suspend himself to attend to his legal matters, the premier and his allies have called on the court to defer the testimony to let the premier attend to matters of state.
Netanyahu’s testimony began eight years after prosecutors launched an investigation into his dealings with media moguls and billionaire businessmen.
Though the premier’s case is being adjudicated by the Jerusalem District Court, his testimony takes place in an underground courtroom at the Tel Aviv District Court due to security concerns.
The premier is charged with several counts of fraud and breach of trust, and one count of bribery. He denies wrongdoing and has said the charges were fabricated by the state prosecution and police investigators in an attempted political coup. In court, Netanyahu has largely ridiculed the charges against him.
The premier’s testimony had already been deferred amid the war in Gaza, sparked when thousands of Hamas-led terrorists stormed southern Israel on October 7, 2023, to kill some 1,200 people and take 251 hostages.