Judges okay moving Netanyahu testimony to Tel Aviv amid concerns for his security
Jerusalem court accepts recommendation to have prime minister take stand in graft trial in fortified Tel Aviv courtroom, after Jerusalem building found to have inadequate shelter
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will take the stand in his corruption trial next week in an underground courtroom in Tel Aviv due to security issues with holding the hearings in Jerusalem, the judges in the premier’s corruption trial ruled Tuesday.
The decision was announced a day after the Shin Bet and Courts Administration recommended temporarily moving the trial to the Tel Aviv District Court, as they sought an alternative for inadequate protective measures available at the Jerusalem District Court.
Netanyahu is set to begin testifying on December 10 after a series of delays stemming from the prime minister’s administration of the war against Hamas in Gaza and, until last week, against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
He is accused of fraud and breach of trust in three separate cases, including one in which he is also facing the more serious charge of bribery.
In a decision published Tuesday, judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am and Oded Shaham said they had accepted the recommendation of security officials to move the testimony to a fortified basement courtroom at Tel Aviv’s District Court, pending the approval of that court.
Tel Aviv’s District Court is housed in the city’s justice hall, a large office building that is also home to the Tel Aviv Magistrate’s Court.
Netanyahu had requested special security arrangements due to the risk of making scheduled appearances at a public location. In September, the Lebanese terror group crashed an explosive drone into Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea, causing damage but no injuries.
Since then, the prime minister has worked from a fortified basement in his office, according to Hebrew media reports. In previous years, the Hamas terror group battling Israel in Gaza also fired rockets at locations where Netanyahu was scheduled to appear.
The judges also gave Netanyahu and his attorneys until Wednesday to detail issues potentially up for discussion at a hearing to finalize arrangements for the testimony. Last week, the prime minister demanded a discussion on the timing and length of his appearances given the security concerns.
According to Hebrew media reports Thursday, Netanyahu is seeking to reduce the number of days spent in court each week, citing the need to reduce the potential security risk.
On Monday, the Courts Administration said discussions with the Shin Bet security agency, which is charged with protecting officials, had determined the Tel Aviv location and a courthouse in Bat Yam to be the only potentially suitable venues. The court said the talks had included “top secret” information regarding threats to Netanyahu due to the ongoing war, input from the IDF and an advisory report on shelter requirements.
The Jerusalem District Court, where Netanyahu’s trial has been held until now, has a lobby marked off as a protected space, but only minimal fortifications against a drone or missile attack.
Netanyahu had been scheduled to begin testifying in his graft cases on December 2, but his defense team requested a 15-day postponement, citing an inability to prepare due to Netanyahu’s intense schedule leading the country during a war. The court granted him an eight-day delay, with the testimony now set to begin at 9 a.m. on December 10.
The testimony is expected to last at least several weeks.
Unless other arrangements are made, Netanyahu is set to testify three days a week, for around six hours a day.
This is not the first time the court has needed to make changes to accommodate the rare case of a sitting prime minister going on trial on allegations of criminal activity. Following his indictment in 2020, the court scrambled to build a larger space to house the trials, given the level of intense public interest.
Netanyahu has consistently denied any wrongdoing in all three cases, which revolve around allegations of gift-taking and attempts to parlay his official powers for more flattering media coverage. He has claimed without offering evidence that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.
