Court rejects Netanyahu’s request to testify just once in his trial next week, shortens duration of hearings instead

Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to testify in his corruption trial, at the Tel Aviv District Court, December 23, 2024. (Reuven Kastro/Pool)
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu arrives to testify in his corruption trial, at the Tel Aviv District Court, December 23, 2024. (Reuven Kastro/Pool)

The Jerusalem District Court rejects a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorney for the premier to testify just once this coming week in his criminal trial, but instead shortens the duration of each hearing.

Netanyahu will therefore testify on Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., instead of 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Breaks in the hearings will be held “as needed,” the court adds in two-sentence decision.

Netanyahu’s defense lawyer Amit Hadad requested yesterday that the prime minister be allowed to testify just once instead of three times next week due to medical complications following the prime minister’s prostrate surgery.

Hadad said Netanyahu had developed a postoperative infection and needed to return gradually to a full schedule.

The attorney said that the prime minister’s doctors had recommended he “avoid continuous activity for more than three straight hours without rest” this coming week, as well as long journeys and “prolonged sitting and standing.”

Netanyahu’s testimony is being held in the Tel Aviv District Court since it has security features that the Jerusalem court lacks. In the six hearings in which he has testified so far, Netanyahu has for the most part testified sitting down, mostly for a maximum of two hours before a break is called.

The prosecution opposed Netanyahu’s request, saying that it reviewed the prime minister’s medical records and did not see a reason to grant it. It agreed instead to longer breaks during the hearings and for each session to be slightly shortened.

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