Netanyahu Trial’s Second Hearing to Be Held Sunday

Barring any last-minute coronavirus-related delays, on Sunday the country will once again witness a hearing against its prime minister, in the bribery case against Binyamin Netanyahu.

This hearing is supposed to be decisive in setting the schedule for when the Yerushalayim District Court will start hearing witnesses.

The trial schedule could have a huge impact on Netanyahu’s transfer of power to Alternate Prime Minister Benny Gantz in November 2021, as well as what Netanyahu’s status will be after that transfer, if he will be indicted or allowed to hold the capacity of prime minister.

While Netanyahu physically attended the hearing on May 24 to respond to the indictment, he is not required to attend the next hearing, which is more about scheduling and resolving legal disputes between the lawyers over evidence.

The lead judge for the case is Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman. The other judges for the trial are Moshe Bar Am and Oded Shaham.

Deputy State Attorney Liat Ben Ari, Tel Aviv Economic Crimes Division Deputy Chief Yonatan Tadmor and Securities Crimes Chief Yehudit Tirosh represent the prosecution, while at least one defense lawyer for each additional defendant besides Netanyahu will also be present.

Due to social distancing rules, there is limited space in the main courtroom, so there will be additional defense lawyers for the defendants, media and other related professionals involved in adjacent rooms with closed-circuit screens.