Prosecution will ask to call witnesses in PM’s trial in coming 3-4 months — report

The State Prosecutor’s Office will request that the Jerusalem District Court call witnesses to testify in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial in the coming three to four months, Channel 13 reports.

The trial officially started in May and will reconvene tomorrow in order for the court to pencil in dates for hearings during which witness testimony will be given.

Channel 13 says Netanyahu’s attorneys will push back against the prosecution’s request to begin calling witnesses by the end of the year, arguing that as a result of Attorney General Avichai Mandelblit’s decision to bar the premier from receiving millions in outside funding for his legal expenses, they need more time to prepare for the trial.

They are likely to ask for another year before reconvening, Channel 13 says, adding that the court is almost sure to reject the request and instead settle for calling witnesses in January or February.

The prosecution is likely to ask that hearings be held three or four times a week in order to finish as soon as possible, as was done during former prime minister Ehud Olmert’s criminal trial, Channel 13 reports. The defense is almost certain to oppose this request as well.

The prosecution is expected to request that the hearings start with Case 4000, in which the premier is accused of approving regulatory moves benefiting the controlling shareholder of Bezeq telecom in exchange for positive news coverage from the company’s Walla news site. Netanyahu, who denies wrongdoing, faces charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust in the case.

The lead prosecutor in the case, Liat Ben Ari is slated to arrive at the hearing with a security detail that was assigned to her following concerns regarding threats being made against her life.