Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team has filed a request with the Jerusalem District Court to delay his testimony in his corruption trial by two-and-a-half months, claiming that a series of security incidents that happened during the time given to prepare him for the testimony has made the task “impossible,” Hebrew media outlets reported early Monday.
The request reportedly cited several major developments in the war in recent months, adding that they “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.”
It contended that “this small delay will enable the defense to properly prepare for his testimony and won’t harm the public interest.”
Such a request was widely expected, on the grounds that the ongoing war prevents Netanyahu from adequately preparing for his testimony, as well as that the prime minister cannot stand trial in the court at this time since it does not have a safe room or bomb shelter.
Netanyahu is currently mostly working from a reinforced room on the basement level of the Prime Minister’s Office, rather than from his usual office on a higher floor, in accordance with instructions from security officials, a report said Sunday, hours before the request was filed to the court.
According to Channel 12 news, Netanyahu has told colleagues that he was instructed to use the better-protected basement-level room and to avoid being in known “permanent places,” due to ongoing concerns about drones and other attacks, after a Hezbollah drone struck his home in Caesarea last month.
The explosive drone, launched from Lebanon on October 19 by the Hezbollah terror group, detonated at Netanyahu’s home when he was not present, and it smashed — though it did not penetrate — a bedroom window, causing minor damage.
Damage caused to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s home in Caesarea in a Hezbollah drone attack on October 19, 2024. (Courtesy)
The Sunday report noted that the new security protocols may explain why cabinet meetings have lately been held in changing locations, and why the wedding of Netanyahu’s son Avner has apparently been postponed to a later date, not in the near future.
Netanyahu refused to step down when the indictments were filed, arguing that he was capable of standing trial while also leading the country. The new request may be met by fresh petitions by government watchdog groups to the High Court of Justice to have the prime minister recused from office, after previous petitions demanding this were rejected.
Such organizations petitioned the High Court in 2020, asking the court to rule that serving as prime minister while under indictment and on trial would be a disqualifying conflict of interest. During the hearings on that petition, the question arose of what would happen if Netanyahu was on trial during a war, to which his lawyers said he would be able to continue serving and fulfill his legal obligations in his trial.
Telling the Jerusalem District Court that he could not actually carry out his functions while on trial would seem to contradict his assertion to the High Court to the contrary, and this may create difficulties for Netanyahu if the issue is brought back to the court.
Netanyahu is scheduled to begin testifying on December 2 with the beginning of his legal team’s defense after the prosecution rested earlier this year. This testimony is expected to last several hours a day and take weeks to complete.
Judges of the Jerusalem District Court take a seat for a hearing in the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, June 25, 2023. (Oren Ben Hakoon/Pool)
In July, Netanyahu’s legal team requested that the court postpone his testimony from November until March 2025 due to his need to manage the war, but the court rejected the request and set the date for December.
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.
Netanyahu has consistently denied any wrongdoing and has claimed that the charges were fabricated in a witch hunt led by the police and state prosecution.
Netanyahu has so far not taken the stand, though he has appeared in court on a handful of occasions. As the main defendant, Netanyahu is scheduled to be the first person to face cross-examination as the defense presents its witnesses in the three cases.
The trial has faced criticism over the slow pace of proceedings.
It began foue-and-a-half years ago and, as things stand, the proceedings, including potential appeals, have been seen as unlikely to end before 2028-2029.
