Knesset speaker slams court for failing to coordinate Netanyahu’s testimony with him
Ohana says schedule will prevent PM from attending ceremony with Paraguay’s president; premier’s associates reportedly pushed to set Peña’s speech to collide with court date
Knesset Speaker Amir Ohana accused the Jerusalem District Court on Friday of failing to update him on the schedule of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s upcoming testimony in his corruption trial, saying that not coordinating with him was a breach of the separation of powers.
Ohana’s accusation came after the court on Thursday rejected Netanyahu’s request, due to the ongoing wars, to testify two days a week instead of three. Netanyahu’s testimony is set to start on Tuesday.
Citing the Knesset Members (Immunity, Rights and Duties) Law, Ohana said in a letter to judiciary director Judge Tzachi Uziel that the court was required to seek the Knesset speaker’s consent for the timing of any lawmaker’s testimony.
Ohana said the law was put in place to ensure that “one authority (the judiciary) does not interfere with the work of another authority (the legislature).”
He added that Knesset plenum sessions are scheduled for Mondays and Tuesdays at 4 p.m. and Wednesdays at 11 a.m. — clashing with Netanyahu’s testimonies, which will take place in an underground hall in Tel Aviv between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m. on Mondays, Tuesdays and Wednesdays.
“True, the presence of all 120 MKs is not always required, but that is what the coordination and agreement mechanism is intended for,” he wrote.
“For example,” Ohana said, Netanyahu’s testimony this coming Wednesday would prevent the premier from attending a Knesset ceremony with Paraguay’s President Santiago Peña, who will be in Israel to fulfill a campaign promise to reopen his country’s embassy in Jerusalem.
“The prime minister’s summons to testify at this particular time harms the status of the event and diminishes the historic debate,” Ohana wrote, asking that the court coordinate with him so that Netanyahu can attend the event.
The court asked the State Attorney’s Office and the Knesset legal adviser to respond to Ohana’s argument by Sunday.
According to Haaretz, a top figure in the premier’s office also reportedly lobbied the Knesset to set Peña’s speech for a time that would clash with Netanyahu’s testimony.
Moreover, according to Haaretz, the premier’s office had checked with parliamentary officials what the Knesset’s legislative itinerary would be. Senior Netanyahu associates cited by the newspaper said the premier is expected to argue before the court that he can’t testify during Knesset plenum sessions.
Legal scholars cited by Haaretz said Ohana’s accusation was legally baseless. The newspaper also reported that Netanyahu’s circle has been trying to set the Knesset schedule in a way that would clash with his testimony.
Haaretz quoted Prof. Barak Medina of Jerusalem’s Hebrew University and Prof. Adam Shinar of Herzliya’s Reichmann University as saying Ohana was wrong about the law. Both scholars said that the court’s requirement to update him about a lawmaker’s testimony did not apply if that lawmaker was the defendant.
“The court has leeway to let a defendant be absent, for example during a Knesset vote, but it is not required to do so,” said Medina.
Opposition Leader Yair Lapid also said Ohana’s arguments were “bogus.”
“Israel has a separation of powers and the court doesn’t have to coordinate anything with him,” Lapid wrote on X.
The opposition has accused Netanyahu of trying to indefinitely push off his potentially damaging testimony. The testimony comes after a series of delays stemming from the war against Hamas in Gaza and, until last week, against Hezbollah in Lebanon.
Netanyahu 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.
The premier 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 that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.
