Prosecution opposes PM request to postpone testimony, demands no more trial delays
State Attorney’s Office tells court it is crucial for Netanyahu’s defense in his corruption trial to begin next month to protect principle of equality before the law
Jeremy Sharon is The Times of Israel’s legal affairs and settlements reporter
The State Attorney’s Office told the Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday that it opposed Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s request to postpone his testimony in his criminal trial on corruption charges, which is currently set to begin on December 2, and opposed any further delay to the beginning of the defense’s case.
Netanyahu’s legal team filed a request earlier this week to delay his testimony by two and a half months, claiming that the security situation had made it impossible to properly prepare the prime minister for testifying in court.
But the State Attorney’s Office insisted in its response that the premier has been given enough time by the court to prepare already and that it is in the public interest for the trial to proceed to a conclusion as quickly as possible.
Netanyahu’s trial on charges of fraud, breach of trust, and bribery began in May 2020, and criticism has mounted over the extended duration of the trial, much of which time Netanyahu has spent serving as prime minister.
The prosecution rested its case in August this year.
In its submission to the court on Tuesday, the State Attorney’s Office noted that the court had already given Netanyahu and his legal team five months to prepare when, in July, it set the start date for his testimony for December 2.
The prosecutor also pointed out that the trial has already taken five years, and asserted that “the public interest in this case requires that the trial be concluded as quickly as possible.”
Added the State Attorney’s Office “Beginning the case for the defense at the set time is necessary in order to protect the public interest, the fairness of the process, and the fundamental principle that everyone is equal before the law.”
The court will hold a hearing over Netanyahu’s request for a delay on Wednesday at 11 a.m.
In July, Netanyahu’s legal team requested that the court delay his testimony until March 2025 due to his need to manage the war, but the court rejected the request and set the date for December.
In Netanyahu’s latest request to postpone his testimony until March 2025, his lawyers cited several major developments in the war in recent months, adding that they had “caused most of the time slots meant to prepare the prime minister to give his testimony to be canceled due to urgent security or diplomatic needs.”
Israel has been fighting Hamas in Gaza since the October 7, 2023, massacre that saw Hamas-led terrorists kill some 1,200 people and take another 251 hostages.
In September, Israel also stepped up its conflict with Hezbollah in Lebanon, including launching a ground operation, as it sought to halt the rocket fire that started a day after the Hamas assault, displacing tens of thousands of Israelis from their homes in northern Israel.
The request to delay the testimony was widely expected on the grounds that the ongoing war is preventing Netanyahu from adequately preparing for his testimony, as well as that the prime minister cannot attend the trial at this time since the court does not have a safe room or bomb shelter.
The application by Netanyahu’s lawyers for a delay in his testimony obliquely referred to concerns for his physical safety, noting: “In recent months, the security establishment accumulated information whose main details can be discussed behind closed doors, which affect the manner in which the prime minister’s testimony can be heard.”
Netanyahu’s private home in Caesarea was targeted recently by a Hezbollah drone. He was not there at the time.
Netanyahu previously asserted in a conflict of interest agreement signed in 2020, which allowed him to serve as prime minister while under indictment, that he would be capable of standing trial while fulfilling his duties as premier.
The new request for a delay may now prompt petitions by government watchdog groups to the High Court of Justice to compel the prime minister to recuse himself from office.
The prime minister has been charged with fraud and breach of trust in two cases and bribery, fraud and breach of trust in a third. He was indicted almost five years ago, in January 2020, and the trial began in May of that year.
He denies all the charges against him.
