Court accepts PM’s request to cancel tomorrow’s hearing due to diplomatic matters

The Jerusalem District Court agrees to a request from Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to cancel tomorrow’s scheduled hearing for his testimony in his criminal trial.

Netanyahu made the request during a closed-door session of the court, saying that security and diplomatic issues required his attention as prime minister and necessitated the cancellation of Tuesday’s hearing.

Netanyahu’s defense team also requests that the number of hearings for the prime minister’s testimony be reduced from three to two going forward because of the ongoing security tensions and complex diplomatic situation.

The court says it will rule on that request soon, but asks the defense team to present it with options for hearing testimony from other defense witnesses one day a week, if one of the scheduled days of Netanyahu’s testimony is to be permanently canceled.

The defense must present its proposal by Thursday, after which the court will request the position of the State Attorney’s Office before making a ruling.