Potential deal would significantly shorten list of witnesses in PM’s trial — report
Three years after charges filed, prosecutors and defense teams reportedly near agreement to skip at least 60 sets of testimony — but verdict still years away
With no end in sight for the landmark corruption trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, prosecutors and defense teams reportedly were nearing an agreement Sunday to forgo dozens of scheduled court testimonies and significantly shorten the proceedings.
The trial began three years ago and, as things stand, the proceedings, including potential appeals, are seen as unlikely to end before 2028-2029.
According to Kan news, the deal in the works would shorten the current list of over 300 prosecution witnesses by more than 60.
With most of the significant witnesses having already testified and many of the remaining ones summoned for technical details, this would mean the testimony on behalf of the prosecution could end within a year.
After that, Netanyahu himself would give testimony, followed by the other defendants and defense witnesses.
Over the past month, the proceedings in the trial have been held behind closed doors with the goal of reducing the number of witnesses, Channel 12 news reported.
The teams have not yet reached a final agreement, the reports said. This requires the sides to agree on certain facts, or in some cases to agree to file a certain witness’s police testimony to the court instead of having the witness testify again in court.
Netanyahu is on trial in three cases, facing one count of bribery and three counts of fraud and breach of trust. He denies any wrongdoing and accuses police, prosecutors and the media of colluding against him.
Several weeks ago, a report said that one of the three judges in the trial had asked the state prosecution and the defense teams to consider a non-binding “criminal mediation” process, in part because the proceedings are proving so protracted.
According to Channel 12, Jacques Chen, a lawyer for one of Netanyahu’s fellow defendants, the former Bezeq controlling shareholder Shaul Elovitz, suggested mediation for all defendants last month during a discussion before Judge Oded Shaham.
Lawyers for Netanyahu “did not rule out the idea,” the report said, and Judge Shaham asked the state to weigh it.
Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara will therefore have to decide if she wants to pursue this option.
Mediation is generally held before a serving judge (not one of the judges in the trial), who does not hear witnesses and does not restart the trial. Rather, the judge tries to work toward what amounts to a potential plea bargain.
For instance, the Channel 12 report said, the judge could cancel the bribery charge against Netanyahu and convict him on fraud and breach of trust — a potential resolution reportedly considered when former attorney general Avichai Mandelblit held plea bargain contacts with Netanyahu’s lawyers in late 2021 to early 2022.
The mediator can also come up with “creative suggestions,” the report said, including on the matter of “moral turpitude” attached to a conviction, which could potentially bar Netanyahu from public office for seven years.
