Netanyahu’s Trial Delayed for Third Time

YERUSHALAYIM
The Yerushalayim District Court. (Olivier Fitoussi/Flash90)

The Yerushalayim District Court on Monday ordered an additional week delay in the public corruption trial of former Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu following two prior postponements.

The trial has been frozen since June 16 and will now reconvene on July 19 instead of the prior dates of July 5 or 12 for restarting witness testimony.

Basically, the court’s decision means that the case will not really go back into full gear until October because the court’s summer recess runs July 21 through Sept. 1 and many of the September hearings will be canceled due to the chagim, though there may be a few hearings.

Essentially, the additional weeks of delay are the product of a disagreement between the prosecution and the defense about how to handle new documents which will be added into the trial from the cell phone of former Walla CEO Ilan Yeshua.

Previously, the prosecution and the defense had spent April, May and June presenting the court with extensive evidence from Yeshua’s cell phone regarding Case 4000, the Bezeq-Walla Media Bribery Affair.

The prosecution has alleged that Netanyahu used his powers to favor Bezeq in telecommunications policy in exchange for favorable media coverage from the Walla news site — with both companies owned by co-defendant Shaul Elovitch.

 

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