Netanyahu’s legal team requests new 15-day delay to start of his testimony in court

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team requests a new, 15-day postponement of the beginning of his testimony in court in his ongoing criminal trial, saying that despite their best efforts the prime minister and his defense attorneys will not be prepared by the scheduled date of December 2.

Earlier this month, Netanyahu’s defense team requested a 10-week delay, but the court rejected the request, saying it had given him five months to prepare when it originally scheduled the date back in July.

Netanyahu’s lawyers say that since the court rejected that request on November 13, and even in the months before that, they and the prime minister had made “a supreme effort” to prepare for his giving testimony, including daily meetings at very late hours in order.

“Despite this supreme effort, the defense is not prepared, and will not be able to meet the goal of being prepared, for beginning the defense by December 2,” Netanyahu’s defense team says.

His lawyers said that preparations were further encumbered by the decision by the International Criminal Court on Thursday to issue an arrest warrant for Netanyahu for war crimes and crimes against humanity.

They therefore request that Netanyahu begin his testimony on December 17.

Netanyahu’s trial on corruption charges for bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust, began in 2020.