Netanyahu asks court to cancel next week’s trial hearings due to meeting with Trump
Court rejected a request this week for PM to appear at just 1 hearing due to medical instructions for rest after surgery, but 2 of the 3 sessions were nixed because judge was sick
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu filed a request to the Jerusalem District Court Wednesday to cancel the hearings in which he was to testimony in his criminal trial next week, due to his invitation to the White House to meet US President Donald Trump.
Trump invited Netanyahu to meet him in the White House on Tuesday, and the prime minister’s attorney said the meeting would deal with issues critical to Israel’s security and diplomatic interests, justifying the fresh delay to the trial.
Netanyahu began testifying in his corruption trial, in which he is accused of bribery, fraud and breach of trust, on December 10, but has only testified on seven days so far due to surgery he underwent at the beginning of January to remove his prostate, and other scheduling difficulties.
This week only one session took place, with the other two canceled due to one of the judges having the flu.
Netanyahu will discuss with Trump “issues of decisive importance to the State of Israel’s foreign relations and security,” wrote Netanyahu’s defense attorney Amit Hadad to the Jerusalem District Court on Wednesday.
Hadad noted that Netanyahu was set to be the first foreign leader to meet with the US president since he took office last week.

“Given the importance of the visit detailed above, the court is requested to cancel the hearings scheduled for next week,” wrote Netanyahu’s lawyer.
The State Attorney’s Office agreed to the cancelation, but asked the court to either extend the length of time Netanyahu testifies in court on each day of testimony when he returns from the US, or increase the number of days per week for the prime minister’s testimony.
Hadad said in response that the defense was opposed to that request, and asked the court to hold a hearing on the matter before making a decision. Hadad added that the defense was “saddened” that the prosecution was conditioning its agreement to cancel next week’s hearings “instead of praising the important visit.”
Last week, Hadad asked the court to allow Netanyahu to testify just once this week instead of the scheduled three times because of complications following the prime minister’s recent surgery and due to the demands of his position managing the ceasefire agreements with Hamas and Hezbollah.
Hadad stated that the medical recommendations were for Netanyahu to “avoid continuous activity of more than three hours without rest” that week, and to “avoid long journeys and extended sitting and standing.”
The prime minister’s lawyer said that the car journey to the Tel Aviv District Court where Netanyahu is testifying for security reasons, and testifying in court itself, were not commensurate with the medical recommendations for recovery from the surgery.
The court refused the request, although it did shorten by two hours the duration of each day of testimony. Then a judge got sick, and two sessions were cancelled.