Netanyahu to appear in court next Monday after prosecution rejects request to postpone his testimony

A day after he submitted a request to postpone his testimony in the corruption and breach of trust cases that are pursuing him, the Israeli Public Prosecution announced today, Monday, before the court in Jerusalem, its rejection of the request of the Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The judges will decide whether to hold a session to discuss the positions of the parties, or to approve the request for postponement or not, without holding a session, according to the Hebrew website "Ynet".

Netanyahu had submitted the request through his lawyers to postpone his testimony scheduled for December 2nd to December 17th, on the pretext that the International Criminal Court in The Hague had issued arrest warrants against him and former Defense Minister Yoav Galant. Netanyahu's defense team claimed that these "unprecedented" developments had caused several preparatory meetings for the sessions to be cancelled, noting that "the lawyers were unable to fully prepare for the testimony session, despite holding daily meetings with Netanyahu until late at night."

In its statement today, the prosecution considered that "in light of the clear public interest in ending the trial as quickly as possible, and preventing postponement, and in light of the absence of evidence of a change in circumstances since the court's decision, we reject the request for postponement." It noted that "after the clarification provided by the Attorney General to the Shin Bet (General Security Service), it became clear that there are several mechanisms that ensure the safe conduct of the sessions on a continuous and frequent basis, including the necessary measures to protect the security of the Prime Minister."

Netanyahu is expected to begin testifying in the corruption cases next Monday, December 2. Netanyahu's security team had asked the court on December 11 to postpone his testimony for two and a half months due to "war pressures." However, two days after the request was submitted, the court announced its rejection, considering that "there have been no actual changes that would constitute a reason to postpone the testimony."

The judges justified their refusal by saying that even with regard to the decision taken earlier in July, after discussing Netanyahu’s defense attorney’s request to postpone the testimony until March 2025, “we gave our position on all the considerations required in the case, including the state of war.” And that during the latter, certain events took place, some of which were detailed in the request for postponement, which were also known when the decision was made.

In the session preceding the decision, Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, refused to commit that the prime minister would be ready to appear in court to testify even on the date they had requested to postpone the testimony. Hadad responded to the judges by saying: “If another war develops, then to hell with the war. What matters is that (Netanyahu) testifies in court? What is this conflict? What is more urgent: conducting the war or testifying?” Before the decision was made, a session was held behind closed doors, in which Netanyahu’s lawyers presented the judges with information from the security services. After the session, the judges stressed that “at this stage, there is not enough evidence presented to us to allow for any real decision.”

In a related context, the Israeli Supreme Court issued a decision obligating Netanyahu and Attorney General Gali Baharav-Miara to submit their positions and official responses to petitions demanding a declaration that Netanyahu is unable to perform his duties as Prime Minister by next Sunday. In the petitions submitted, the court was asked to declare that Netanyahu is unable to fully perform his duties as Prime Minister, as he must appear in court three days a week to testify about the cases in which he is involved. The petitioners also requested a partial removal from office during the days of his testimony, if the court rejects the decision to remove him from office completely.

New Arab