Judges delay Netanyahu’s 2nd appearance in court for his trial, citing lockdown
PM was to attend Jan. 13 hearing; indefinite postponement renews claims he is manipulating virus response to suit his needs; AG gives defense team required papers on opening probe
Michael Bachner is a news editor at The Times of Israel
The Jerusalem District Court on Friday announced that a much-anticipated court hearing next week in the corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, which he and the other defendants are required to attend, will be postponed indefinitely due to the country’s nationwide lockdown.
The January 13 hearing had been set to focus on Netanyahu’s response to the criminal indictment against him. It was set to be the second time Netanyahu attends a hearing in the case.
The panel of three judges overseeing the case said in its decision that the hearing would be delayed in light of a statement a day earlier by the Courts Administration that allows judges to decide whether individual hearings can go ahead as planned, and since many people — court staff, lawyers, journalists and likely protesters — intended to take part or converge near the court.
A new date will be announced later, Justices Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am and Oded Shaham said.
Tel Aviv Mayor Ron Huldai, who recently formed a new political party running in the upcoming elections, attacked Justice Minister Benny Gantz for caving to Netanyahu, after Gantz said several weeks ago that he wouldn’t allow the premier to manipulate the lockdown timing to nix his own trial hearing.
Huldai’s No.2 in the new “The Israelis” party is Avi Nissenkorn, the justice minister until recently who resigned and left Gantz’s Blue and White party.
“Not two weeks have passed since Nissenkorn left the Justice Ministry, and the Netanyahu trial is delayed. Gantz isn’t missing an opportunity to cave to Bibi. We will put the country back on track,” Huldai said, using Netanyahu’s nickname.
Nissenkorn himself tweeted: “As justice minister I didn’t cave and I issued orders that kept the courts open during lockdowns as well. Democracy doesn’t come to a stop during emergencies. Israelis deserve a leadership that can be trusted.”
Gantz said in a statement that the court’s decision was “more proof that Israel’s justice system is independent and isn’t persecuting Netanyahu.” He said Netanyahu should be ousted in the coming March 23 elections due to the cases against him.
A day earlier, the Courts Administration said that non-urgent or small-scale cases will be postponed unless the judges decide a specific hearing is time-sensitive, and that any judge can use their judgment to delay a specific hearing.
Earlier this week, the judges rejected a request by Netanyahu’s lawyers to delay the hearing for matters relating to the case itself.
The prime minister’s defense team had asked for more time to respond to the recently resubmitted indictments, and to Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s acknowledgment that he authorized the criminal probes against the premier verbally, but not in writing.
The Jerusalem court, in its Wednesday decision, rejected the defense team’s request to postpone the heading. But the court also signaled a potential problem in the prosecution’s case, by ordering the attorney general to hand over “without delay” documents proving he had authorized opening a criminal investigation into the premier.
The attorney general had referred to internal documentation from meetings that underlined his approval of the investigations, but didn’t attach those documents to his response to the court, the judges noted.
The attorney general must hand over that evidence “without delay,” the ruling said, adding that the state can redact confidential information.
On Thursday evening, prosecutors handed Mandelblit’s approval documents to Netanyahu’s lawyers as demanded by the court, including the okay to open the various probes and investigations and to question Netanyahu under caution, Hebrew-language media reported.
Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000, which involves suspicions that Netanyahu granted regulatory favors benefitting Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Bezeq telecoms, in exchange for positive coverage of the prime minister and his family from the Bezeq-owned Walla news site. Elovitch and his wife, Iris, also face bribery charges in the case.
Netanyahu also faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 as well as in Case 2000. The former involves suspicions Netanyahu illicitly accepted some $200,000 in gifts such as cigars and champagne from two billionaires — Hollywood-based Israeli movie mogul Arnon Milchan and Australian magnate James Packer.
In Case 2000, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to reach a quid pro quo with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes for positive media coverage in exchange for legislation weakening rival newspaper Israel Hayom. Mozes was charged with bribery in the case.
His lawyers have repeatedly moved to delay and discredit the proceedings, filing complaints against the prosecution, alleging “criminal tactics” had been used against them, calling for changing the indictment against the prime minister, and claiming that police investigators had used illegitimate means to secure evidence, thus disqualifying the charges.
But most recently, Netanyahu’s lawyers have argued that Mandelblit’s lack of written consent is a breach of Israel’s Basic Laws that invalidates the entire case and have called for the charges to be canceled. The attorney general, however, has said there is no legal requirement for the authorization to be in written form.
The lawyers had asked that the next hearing focus on their own request to cancel the indictment altogether due to the alleged lack of formal approval for the investigation. According to the law, investigations into a prime minister need prior approval from the attorney general.
The defense team also argued that a recently filed amended charge sheet in Case 4000, which details over 200 alleged cases of intervention by Netanyahu or his associates in the Walla news site’s coverage as part of an alleged bribery deal, contains “substantial and relevant details for the defendants’ defense” that merit the postponement.
In a potential bombshell, the lawyers also said Netanyahu was weighing using this additional time — and the claim that the police investigations went ahead without the attorney general’s okay — to again seek parliamentary immunity, after he gave up a similar bid last year when it became clear he would fail to muster a majority.
The current Knesset seems even less likely to support such a motion — though the make-up of parliament following the upcoming March election is of course up in the air.
Netanyahu’s trial opened in May. Though the prime minister attended the first hearing, he was granted an exemption from appearing at later, largely procedural stages of the trial.
Netanyahu, who is the first Israeli premier to be indicted while in office, denies any wrongdoing and has railed against the courts, prosecution, and media for what he terms a “witch hunt.”
Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.
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