Court cancels PM testimony date due to upcoming meeting with Trump on tariffs, hostages
Jerusalem District Court refuses to cancel coming week’s 2nd hearing as Netanyahu’s meeting with Trump is on Monday; prosecutors accuse PM’s attorney of lying over meeting agenda
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Jerusalem District Court agreed on Saturday night to cancel a scheduled hearing on Monday for Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in his criminal trial, due to his upcoming trip to the US to meet with US President Donald Trump.
The court refused, however, to cancel a second hearing planned for Wednesday, and ordered the defense to put another defense witness on the stand on Monday. It ruled that Netanyahu would have to make up the canceled hearing later this month.
Netanyahu began giving testimony in his trial on corruption charges on December 10 last year, but has repeatedly requested that hearings be canceled due to the responsibilities of his position, illness, and other scheduling issues.
Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad filed a request to the court on Saturday, stating that Trump had invited the prime minister to the White House during Netanyahu’s current trip to Hungary.
According to Hadad, the purpose of the meeting would be to discuss efforts to secure a hostage release agreement, the tariffs Trump imposed on Israeli goods as part of his hike on tariffs for every US trading partner, and the current combat operations in Gaza.
Hadad specifically mentioned the tariff issue and said that there was “great importance for dialogue on the subject” to try and reduce the level of duties the administration was imposing on Israeli exports to the US.
Hadad told the court that Netanyahu had offered to hold the meeting during the upcoming Passover holiday, when the court is not in session, but that Trump wanted to hold the meeting this coming Monday.
The lawyer continued by saying that Netanyahu was the first foreign leader invited to speak to Trump about tariffs, and that political and international events were “dynamic and sensitive” and therefore required “flexibility and preparations at short notice.”
The prime minister’s attorney added that after the meeting with Trump, “it is likely” that Netanyahu would also meet with other administration officials on either Monday night or Tuesday morning. Because of the time difference and the flight time, Hadad therefore requested that both the Monday and Wednesday court hearings be canceled.
The State Attorney’s Office agreed to the cancellation of Monday’s hearing but said there was no reason to cancel Wednesday’s hearing. It also demanded an extra hearing on Thursday to make up for the cancellation.
The court agreed to cancel Monday’s hearing, but agreed with the State Attorney’s Office that there was no reason to cancel the hearing scheduled for Wednesday.
It also ordered that the defense put another witness on the stand on Monday in place of Netanyahu, and instructed the premier to give testimony three times in the week beginning April 20 instead of twice, to make up for the canceled hearing.
Following the submission of Netanyahu’s request, the State Attorney’s Office issued an angry letter to the court, accusing Hadad of lying to it over the arrangements for the visit.
The State Attorney’s Office said that Hadad had initially told it that Netanyahu would only be able to return from the US on Wednesday and therefore would not be able to testify on Monday or Wednesday.
The prosecutor’s office stated, however, that after it sent Hadad its response to Netanyahu’s request, the lawyer then told the court that the premier would have his last meeting in the US on Tuesday morning at the latest, something he neglected to tell the prosecutors.
“The behavior of the attorney for defendant number one is unacceptable,” the State Attorney’s Office said, and requested that in the future, it be able to file its responses to such requests directly to the court.
Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases, and faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000.
The trial began in 2020 and is expected to run well into 2026 if not beyond that. If convicted, Netanyahu would have the right of appeal to the Supreme Court.
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