Hearings in the criminal trial of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will be held four days a week starting November 2 and the prime minister will be testifying on three of those days, while on the fourth, other witnesses presented by the defense will give their testimony.
The final decision to increase the hearings to four days a week was issued by Jerusalem District Court Judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham on Wednesday.
The trial that has ballooned to far beyond the legal realm has been ongoing since 2020, and progressed during and after the October 7, 2023 massacre the fighting on various fronts that have followed in its wake.
Netanyahu claims hearings' frequency will clash with PM duties
The judges issued a decision in August to increase the number of weekly hearings to four, but Netanyahu’s defense attorneys and those for other defendants Arnon “Noni” Mozes, and Shaul and Iris Elovich in the indictment encompassing Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000 – appealed to the panel on Tuesday to cancel the decision, citing professional and personal weariness and difficulty with meeting the schedule requirements. They also said the schedule would make it difficult for them to defend their witnesses thoroughly, while Netanyahu himself said it would clash with his duties as PM.
“All of these calculations were taken into consideration in our decision – calculations, we must add, that have been put before us previously,” the judges’ wrote.
“This decision was not made lightly but we have not been sufficiently convinced that the defense of the accused will be harmed by the change to the schedule,” wrote the judges, adding that “in the past, a much more intense schedule had been set for other massive cases. There is no indication that this harmed the defense in any way. The legal teams here are dedicated and experienced, people that have the ability to make the necessary adjustments to meet this demand.”
Regarding the prime minister’s schedule, the decision reads, “We are not making light of, even slightly, the challenges that Netanyahu faces – in general and especially at these times.” They noted that they even avoided making such a decision in the past.
However, the trial has reached “a turning point” now; the case is massive in a way that is unprecedented in its size and its complications, wrote the judges, and it is also underway for more than five years, “and we still have a long way to go.”
The cross-examination began in June, paused for summer recess, and the hearings themselves continue to be limited, given the schedule of the prime minister, and also the nearing retirement of some of the judges.
In its response on Thursday, the prosecution expressed its opposition to the proposed shortening of the hearing scheduled for Wednesday (September 17), and explained in the broader context the court’s reasoning for choosing to expand the schedule: To bring the trial closer to an ending point and move the hearings along. The prosecution said that a reason had not been presented as to why Wednesday’s hearing should be shortened, and no security briefing had been provided.
It further opposed other schedule changes requested by the defense – to cancel Netanyahu’s appearance on the week of the 28th, as the prime minister is supposed to fly to the US on the 25th and return on the 30th. It asked instead that, should the court agree to the changes, that alternate hearing dates be set.