Netanyahu trial moved to February 8 due to coronavirus lockdown
The hearing had originally been scheduled for January 13.
By YONAH JEREMY BOBPRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu, wearing a face mask, stands inside the courtroom at the Jerusalem District Court as his trial opens on May 24. (photo credit: RONEN ZVULUN / REUTERS)
The next hearing in Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s public corruption trial will be held on February 8, the Jerusalem District Court announced Monday.In an extraordinary turnaround on Friday, the court ordered the postponement of Netanyahu’s trial, citing the coronavirus lockdown and the large number of necessary participants.The order could potentially postpone the calling of witnesses to right before or after Election Day on March 23.It came less than 48 hours after the same court rejected a prior request by Netanyahu to postpone the January 13 hearing, ruling that although the prosecution had amended the indictment, his lawyers had a full year to study the original indictment and that recent changes were not substantive.The postponement of Netanyahu’s trial was swiftly denounced last week by opposition party leaders.“A prime minister up to his neck in investigations has no public or ethical mandate to decide such fateful things,” opposition leader Yair Lapid (Yesh Atid) said, adding that it was a “real concern” that Netanyahu will make decisions based on his personal interests and survival and not the national interest.Ron Huldai, head of the Israelis Party, criticized Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White) for allowing the courts to get to such a situation, saying it showed Gantz “capitulating to Bibi.”Gantz retorted that he had no control over the court decision and that he had left the courts open to allow them to halt proceedings according to the considerations of the judges.“The greater problem is that a prime minister of Israel is serving under indictment, and so there is a cloud of personal and legal considerations floating above his decisions,” Gantz said. “It is this reality that we need to change in the coming election.”Yisrael Beytenu chairman Avigdor Liberman tweeted: “Because of the shutdown: Netanyahu’s court hearing delayed” and “Do you also see the connection?” He basically accused Netanyahu of instituting a new COVID-19 shutdown to evade justice.
It was unclear why the court changed its mind between Wednesday night and Friday, given that all of the new coronavirus limitations had been set by Wednesday night.It was also unclear why Gantz, who is serving as acting justice minister, kept the courts open if the final result was to postpone Netanyahu’s trial.Netanyahu’s trial also was postponed from March to May during the first lockdown, but it was not postponed during the second one.Jeremy Sharon contributed to this story.
