The end of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s testimony in the Jerusalem District Court, after 18 months on the witness stand, has drawn sharp reactions in the legal system. Retired judge Haran Feinstein discussed the case Thursday morning with Avi Ratzon on Galey Israel radio, and made unusually harsh claims against both the prosecution and the court handling the trial.
Feinstein echoed Netanyahu’s comments from the night before, when the prime minister stepped down from the stand. “Netanyahu said it correctly in his speech yesterday, ‘10 years of hell.’ This is simply not a trial,” Feinstein said. He described the proceedings as “a clear political campaign” aimed at one goal, “disgrace, so that the prime minister will not be able to continue in office.”
He also attacked the pace of the case, saying the prolonged process violates basic criminal justice principles. Feinstein noted that the indictment was filed six years ago and that dozens of more witnesses are still expected to testify. “There is a basic and fundamental rule in law, that the punishment or verdict should be as close as possible to the time of the act,” he said, adding that in his view, “this whole event will take about 15 years from start to finish.”
Feinstein ended by assigning responsibility not only to prosecutors but also to the panel of judges at the Jerusalem District Court, saying they allowed the delays to continue on their watch. “For me this is not a trial,” he said, “certainly not in the worldview that the prosecution is leading,” adding that the judges themselves also contributed to “the dragging out and the delays.”
