Prosecutors slam ‘biased and inaccurate’ leak, ask to accelerate Netanyahu graft trial

25 June 2023, 5:03 pm

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Prosecutor Liat Ben-Ari (left) with colleagues at the trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu at the District Court in Jerusalem, February 8, 2021. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)

Prosecutors file a request with the Jerusalem District Court to accelerate Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s graft trial, asking the judges to add additional days of hearings next month.

In the request, prosecutors say they want to speed up the evidentiary stage in the trial, which began in May 2020. They urge the judges to also lengthen the hearings on days when testimony is currently scheduled.

They also complain about the leak of a conversation the judges and the opposing legal teams held last week, during which the former reportedly said prosecutors would have a hard time proving the bribery charge against Netanyahu.

“The conversation was leaked in a biased and inaccurate manner and in a way meant to harm the proper conduct of the trial,” the prosecutors charge.

They therefore ask any further such talks only take place in the courtroom and that minutes be taken, “as long as there is not a legal justification for closed doors.”