Hearing for Netanyahu Likely to Be Postponed Again

State Attorney Avichai Mandelblit is likely to accede to requests by attorneys for Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu to postpone the hearing that will decide whether or not indictments will be filed against him. The hearing had originally been scheduled for the summer months, but now is likely to be postponed until after the Yamim Nora’im.

The reason for the postponement is that the large amount of material collected by police and prosecutors has not yet been submitted to, let alone inspected, by Netanyahu’s attorneys. The material – including files, recordings, testimonies, transcripts of police interrogations and more – has been ready to be submitted to Netanyahu’s attorneys for about two months, but the prime minister requested that submission be delayed until after the elections, out of concern that material could be leaked, damaging his election chances. Mandelblit acceded to that request.

However, in the month since the election, the material has still not been picked up – the reason being, Ha’aretz reported, because Netanyahu is behind on paying his attorney, and they are not willing to do more work until they are paid. Mandelblit has been in touch with them, and made it clear that the date of the hearing will have no bearing on their payment schedules.

Currently, the hearing is set for July 10th, but that date is likely to change again, the report said. Mandelblit had originally set the date for the hearing in June – three months after the election, giving Netanyahu’s attorneys what he deemed enough time to review the material, the report said.