Netanyahu’s testimony to take 25 court sessions, says lawyer

The lawyer representing Benjamin Netanyahu in the Israel prime minister’s corruption trial said on Monday that his client would need from 24 to 25 court sessions to testify.

Amit Hadad told the Jerusalem District Court that he would need 24 sessions to complete his primary questioning of Netanyahu, while Yoni Tadmor of the State Attorney’s Office said prosecutors would need three times as many hearings for cross-examination, which could extend the trial for at least another nine months, possibly until April 2026.

Netanyahu has been scheduled to testify three times a week, but at the end of Monday’s hearing he asked the court to reduce the number of hearings every week from three to two citing “ongoing security tensions and [the] complex diplomatic situation”. He also asked to cancel a scheduled Tuesday hearing under the pretext of “security developments”.

The corruption trial resumed last week at the Tel Aviv District Court after a two-week suspension for Netanyahu’s visit to the US, Anadolu reported at the time.

The Israeli premier has appeared before the court eight times since 10 December. His trial was then suspended later in December due to prostate surgery.

He faces three separate cases of corruption filed in 2019: Case 1,000, Case 2,000 and Case 4,000, which include accusations of bribery, fraud and breach of trust. The Israeli premier denies any wrongdoing, calling the accusations “fake”.

Netanyahu is the first sitting Israeli leader to take the stand as a criminal defendant in the country’s history. Under Israeli law, he is not required to resign unless convicted by the Supreme Court, a process that could take several months.

He also faces charges of war crimes and crimes against humanity, with the International Criminal Court issuing arrest warrants for him and former Defence Minister Yoav Gallant in November 2024 over atrocities in Gaza, where over 48,200 Palestinians, mostly women and children, have been killed by the Israel occupation army.

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