Court: No postponing PM trial to wait for Case 4000 entities' decision

Netanyahu's lawyers had hoped that open decisions about whether Yediot Ahronot and Walla will be part of the Case 4000 Jerusalem trial could be used to delay the calling of witnesses.

PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press statement ahead of the start of his trial at the District Court in Jerusalem in May. (photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
PRIME MINISTER Benjamin Netanyahu gives a press statement ahead of the start of his trial at the District Court in Jerusalem in May.
(photo credit: YONATAN SINDEL/FLASH 90)
The Jerusalem District Court on Tuesday rejected a request by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to postpone his trial until Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit decides the fates of entities connected with Case 4000, known as the Bezeq-Walla Affair.
 
Netanyahu’s lawyers had hoped that open questions about whether Yediot Aharonot and Walla will be part of the Case 4000 Jerusalem trial could be used to delay the calling of witnesses.
 
In December, Mandelblit decided on indictments regarding those entities in a separate case moving forward in the Tel Aviv District Court.
 
The final pretrial hearing in the prime minister’s trial was postponed multiple times from December to January and then to February 8. That hearing is supposed to determine when witnesses will be called.