Court rejects defence request again, Netanyahu’s trial to continue 4 times a week

The court overseeing the trial of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has once again rejected a request from his defence team to cancel the decision requiring hearings to be held four times a week. The court confirmed on Wednesday evening that the intensive schedule would continue.

According to the court’s decision, the requirement is linked to the limited term of one of the judges — the head of the panel, Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman — who fears she may retire before delivering the final verdict in the so-called Case 1000 files.

Netanyahu’s lawyer, Amit Hadad, along with other members of his legal team, had recently informed the court that they had met with the Prime Minister and told him they would not be able to continue representing him if the hearings were held four times a week.

However, the judges decided on Wednesday evening not to allow the lawyers to withdraw from representing Netanyahu, stating that the “size and complexity of the case” made it impossible to approve such a request. They added that accepting it “could harm the court’s ability to conduct the proceedings properly”.

Earlier in the day, Hadad had said that even if the court ordered the defence team to continue representing Netanyahu, they would refuse to do so, declaring: “We will not be here.”

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