Court lets Netanyahu skip testimony next week for trip to meet Trump

The Jerusalem District Court agreed on Wednesday to again cancel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming scheduled testimony in his criminal trial, this time due to his visit to Washington next week.

Netanyahu is slated to depart Israel late Saturday night and meet in the White House with US President Donald Trump on Monday. He is scheduled to return on Thursday, though he almost always extends his official visits abroad over the Jewish Sabbath.

Netanyahu’s attorney, Amit Hadad, told the court that the prime minister is also slated to meet during his trip with US Vice President JD Vance, Secretary of State Marco Rubio, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, special envoy to the Middle East Steve Witkoff and senior congressional leaders.

The court canceled the hearings scheduled for Netanyahu’s testimony on Monday and Wednesday next week, extending the premier’s hiatus from the witness stand to over a month.

Netanyahu’s testimony was canceled this week due to unspecified national security matters, and he also did not attend court during the 12-day war with Iran, which ended with a ceasefire on June 24. He most recently took the stand on June 11, after beginning his testimony in December 2024 and starting the cross-examination on June 3.

The trial has continued despite the prime minister’s absence, with other defense witnesses testifying, including Likud MK Moshe Saada, who previously served as the deputy head of the Department of Internal Police Investigations. Netanyahu’s testimony has been canceled repeatedly over the past seven months for security, diplomatic and health reasons.

Last Friday, the court twice rejected a request by Netanyahu’s attorneys to cancel his testimony for a period of two weeks, despite the claim of pressing “diplomatic, national and security issues.”

Then, on Sunday, the court ultimately granted a request to cancel his testimony for a period of a week, but not two weeks, after Netanyahu himself and the heads of the Mossad and the IDF’s Military Intelligence Directorate convinced the judges behind closed doors of the need.

Just days after a ceasefire between Iran and Israel was reached, Trump issued a stunning public call for Netanyahu’s criminal trial to be thrown out, calling it a “ridiculous Witch Hunt.” The US president wrote on his Truth Social platform that “Bibi Netanyahu’s trial should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero, who has done so much for the State.”

On Sunday, Trump doubled down on the proclamation, calling the trial a “travesty of justice” and issuing a vaguely threatening message that “we are not going to stand for this.”

It was revealed last week that former Supreme Court president Aharon Barak met with Netanyahu’s lawyer in January in a bid to reach a plea bargain, but the effort faltered due to the prime minister’s refusal to step down as part of the deal. President Isaac Herzog reportedly met this week with Barak to discuss potential ways to mediate the end of the trial.

Several members of Netanyahu’s coalition praised Trump’s call for the trial to end, while many of those in the opposition as well as others inside the coalition slammed the messages as blatant overseas intervention in an internal Israeli legal matter. The head of the Israel Bar Association, Amit Becher, said that if Netanyahu had requested the US president’s statement demanding the trial’s end, it would be a criminal offense.

Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery as well as fraud and breach of trust in Case 4000. He denies any wrongdoing and claims that all the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.

Lazar Berman and Times of Israel staff contributed to this report.