Court rejects Netanyahu’s request to delay testimony in criminal trial
PM scheduled to begin giving evidence on December 2; Jerusalem District Court rules no justification for further delay after prosecution says Netanyahu can’t dictate trial schedule
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request for a 10-week delay to the start of his testimony in his criminal trial, saying that he has already had five months to prepare.
Netanyahu’s defense team requested the delay because it said the prime minister has been unable to prepare for giving testimony, set to begin on December 2, due to the time pressures of managing the current, multi-front conflict.
The court ruled however that it gave Netanyahu a long period of time for testimony preparation when it set the date back in July and that it was “not convinced that a substantial change in circumstances has occurred which would justify a change to the date we set in our [original] decision.”
Netanyahu will therefore need to begin his testimony in just under three weeks. Witnesses in the trial have typically testified in court four days a week, for the whole day, meaning five or six hours at a time.
Such a schedule would however make running the government and the war extremely difficult for the prime minister.
Netanyahu’s defense team made arguments to the court in a session closed to the press about arrangements for his testimony, which likely included requests regarding the location and schedule of the hearings.
The court ruled however that it had not been provided with sufficient information to make a determination on the matter.
Pleading in court earlier on Wednesday, Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad said the prime minister had put the needs of the country above his personal legal interests during the current war and therefore been unable to make sufficient time for testimony preparation.
“Netanyahu is managing the entire war, and there are weeks when we can’t meet with him, can this be ignored?” demanded Hadad, adding, “Do we not want a prime minister whose head is entirely in managing the war?”
Added the attorney, “We’ve done so much to prepare for this testimony. Meetings have been canceled or postponed, when it’s about dealing with other things or preparation, other things come first.”
In its request to the court, the prime minister’s legal team pointed out that since the date was set for Netanyahu’s testimony, the war of attrition with Hezbollah broke out into a fully fledged conflict, including an Israeli ground invasion, while Iran attacked Israel directly at the beginning of October followed by Israel’s airstrikes in Iran.
Hadad also rejected the prosecution’s claim that further delaying the trial, now approaching the end of its fourth year, would damage the principle of equality before the law, and said it would not be acceptable for the prime minister to have to testify without being properly prepared.
Responding to Hadad, Attorney Yehudit Tirosh for the State Attorney’s Office insisted however that Netanyahu could not be allowed to “dictate the schedule” of his trial.
Tirosh pointed out that the court in July set the start date for the prime minister’s testimony five months into the future precisely to give him time to prepare.
“We were at war in July in Gaza, with attacks from the north, and we’re at war now,” said Tirosh.
“The prime minister can’t dictate the schedule for his trial and testimony. We don’t know what will be in another 10 weeks either.”
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman pointedly asked Hadad whether Netanyahu would be ready by March 2025, when he has requested his testimony begin, to which the lawyer said he could not know what the situation would be like at the time.
Netanyahu’s legal team during the proceedings in 2020 demanding that the High Court of Justice bar him from serving as prime minister under indictment asserted that he would be capable of standing trial while fulfilling his duties as premier, including in emergencies such as a war.
The prime minister was charged in January 2020 with fraud and breach of trust in two cases and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a third, and the trial began in May of that year.
He denies all the charges against him.
