Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s lawyers on Sunday requested that the Jerusalem District Court postpone his trial testimony until March 2025.
In July, the court set Dec. 2 as the start date for Netanyahu’s testimony in his corruption trial. The premier was indicted for bribery, fraud and breach of trust in January 2020.
In their request to the court, Netanyahu’s defense team argued that due to a series of security-related events amid Israel’s ongoing wars in the north and south, the premier has not had sufficient time to prepare for trial, according to Hebrew media.
“A tremendous effort was made to utilize the period of time to prepare for the beginning of the defense case and for the hearing of the Prime Minister’s testimony,” the lawyers told the court.
“However, from the time of the decision until today, a series of extraordinary events occurred that made the preparation of the Prime Minister impossible in the current time frame,” they continued.
They requested another delay of two and a half months.
“This short postponement will allow the defense to properly prepare for the Prime Minister’s testimony and will not harm the public interest in view of the unique events that took place, especially in the last two months,” his defense attorneys concluded.
The Jerusalem District Court is set hold a hearing on the postponement request on Wednesday at 11 a.m.
Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman ordered the prosecution to file its response to the request by noon on Tuesday.
