Netanyahu asks court to postpone next week’s hearing

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu requested on Wednesday that the Jerusalem District Court postpone his upcoming hearing next week in his public corruption trial due to ongoing disputes with the prosecution and the worsening coronavirus third wave.His lawyers noted that some of them have been in quarantine in recent weeks, hampering their ability to prepare, though the hearing was scheduled months ago and even next week’s January 13 hearing date was after the court already granted an earlier postponement request of several weeks.Questions started to resurface late Tuesday about whether the impending stricter third lockdown would cause further delays.Next week’s hearing would feature Netanyahu in-person and was also expected to be when the Jerusalem District Court would set dates in February for starting to hear witnesses, the heart of the trial.However, the tightening of the third lockdown expected for the end of this week or the start of next week has started a multi-dimensional war of words about whether the courts should stay open.Netanyahu’s lawyers also raised the possibility to the court of asking it to reconsider its prior firm rejection of a wide variety of immunity arguments given some prosecution amendments to the indictment, something which courts barely ever consider doing. On one hand, at 12:22 p.m. on Tuesday, the court spokesperson’s office sent out an email to reporters with detailed instructions to prepare for next week’s hearing as is standard for such important events.

At 3:30 p.m. Tuesday, a spokesperson for Defense Minister and Acting Justice Minister Benny Gantz said he had just recently spoken, “with the attorney general and discussed a variety of legal questions pertaining to judicial functioning and freedom of demonstration under pandemic-related regulations, Gantz stating he is unwilling to curb freedom of demonstration nor the right to appeal.”Further, the statement said that, “The attorney-general stated that freedom of demonstration can only legally be restricted when a special state of emergency is declared, and confirmed that limiting the activity of the courts and/or the right to file legal appeals are at the sole discretion of the justice minister. Gantz thus intends to make these two basic rights inviolable in any lockdown arrangement decided upon by the government.”However, at 4:49 p.m. Tuesday, Israel Bar Association president Avi Himi said that, “the health of lawyers is not inconsequential, and if it is decided to enact a full lockdown, it must include the courts, to which hundreds and thousands of lawyers are going to every day, alongside parties to cases and citizens.”He accused the government and the judiciary of  “sacrificing them [the lawyers] on the altar of the trial of the prime minister.”Himi said he would push for a decision to close the courts.Although the first lockdown delayed Netanyahu’s trial from March to May with the courts mostly closed, the second lockdown did not delay the trial at all, with the courts remaining nearly fully open.  Himi is a supporter of the judiciary and Attorney-General Avichai Mandelblit so, unlike the Likud who might have mixed motives, his calling for closing the courts is likely to be perceived as apolitical.Gantz and the court spokesperson on Wednesday issued a joint statement that he had held his first meeting with Supreme Court President Esther Hayut.The statement said that he would protect the judiciary’s independence and made no reference to any plans to close the courts due to the impending stricter lockdown.If the courts do not close, this would remove a major basis for delaying Netanyahu’s trial. Source