Netanyahu’s lawyers threaten to quit if number of his weekly trial hearings not reduced

Defense attorneys call four hearings per week in PM’s criminal trial ‘disproportionate,’ claim challenges faced by Israel mean he can’t be in court for most of the working week

By Jeremy Sharon

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27 October 2025, 7:17 pm

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

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu sits at the Tel Aviv District Court ahead of his testimony in the corruption trial against him, October 15, 2025. (Reuven Kastro/POOL)

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s defense attorneys in his criminal trial on Monday threatened to resign if the number of hearings every week is not reduced, in a letter to the Jerusalem District Court.

On Sunday, the court said there will be four hearings per week, with Netanyahu testifying in three of them, and rejected requests from Netanyahu’s defense team to reduce the number of hearings, after lead defense attorney Amit Hadad said he could not attend hearings on Sundays due to his court schedule for other clients.

Netanyahu’s attorneys told the court Monday that they will not be able to handle this pace, and will ask that the court allow them to stop representing the prime minister if their request for a reduction in the number of hearings is refused.

“The decision to require the prime minister to be present in court three hearings a week is disproportionate, inconsistent with the Basic Law of the Government, and does not balance the various needs and interests,” the letter read.

The prime minister’s lawyers also said that Netanyahu is not practically able to attend three hearings a week as per the court’s demands, due to the current circumstances of the country.

“The tasks and challenges facing the State of Israel in the upcoming period do not allow for the presence of the prime minister in court for most of the working week. The prime minister is expected to dedicate most of his energy and time preparing for these challenges and advancing the opportunities facing the State of Israel,” the letter read.

Netanyahu’s lawyer Amit Hadad — who is also representing Jonatan Urich in the Qatargate case — arrives at the District court in Tel Aviv, where Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is testifying in his own ongoing corruption trial, on April 21, 2025. (Avshalom Sassoni/Flash90)

“The prime minister will request to expand on the matter in a hearing that will be held at the honorable court, partly behind closed doors, and with the participation of a relevant security official,” the lawyers added.

Netanyahu has repeatedly sought to reduce the number of hearings per week, and the court has canceled numerous hearings due to the prime minister’s duties and health problems.

The court recently decided to increase the number of hearings per week because of the repeated delays and the amount of time that the trial has already taken — having started in 2020 — and due to the possibility that Netanyahu’s testimony alone could last until April 2026 and that the trial itself will drag on into 2027.

Netanyahu is on trial in three corruption cases. He faces charges of fraud and breach of trust in Case 1000 and Case 2000, and charges of bribery, as well as fraud and breach of trust, in Case 4000.

The premier denies any wrongdoing and says all the charges were fabricated in a political coup led by the police and state prosecution.

US President Donald Trump, speaking to the Knesset earlier in the month, called on President Isaac Herzog to pardon the prime minister, characterizing the allegations as a trifling matter of “cigars and champagne.”