Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu received good news on Monday: the testimony phase of his trial will not begin before the March 23 elections in Israel.
Why it matters: Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, breach of trust and fraud in connection with a series of corruption scandals. If the testimony of witnesses and the presentation of evidence started before the election, this could have dominated the news cycle and undermined their hopes of winning a majority.
- Instead, they will start on April 5 with three hearings a week, announced the judges who oversee the trial on Monday.
- The bad news for Netanyahu is that hearings will align with the post-election process of trying to form a government.
- Between the lines: A new right-wing majority would likely pass laws trying to end Netanyahu’s trial.
Flashback: At the court session two weeks ago when Netanyahu pleaded not guilty, his lawyers asked that the deposition phase be postponed for another three to four months. They cited procedural reasons and did not mention the elections.
- But several hours after Netanyahu left the court, he denounced the charges against him and advocated a postponement until after the elections and said that starting the hearing before March 23 “would look like flagrant interference in the elections”.
Driving the news: Judges rejected Netanyahu’s demands that two of the charges against him be dismissed for procedural reasons and that some pieces of evidence be barred because they were collected illegally. They criticized the attorney general for the process by which the investigation into Netanyahu was authorized.