Netanyahu Plans to Attend Hearing on Faster Trial Schedule and Defense Witness List

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has told judges he will appear at a hearing next Monday, after completing his testimony, to oppose two procedural steps in his criminal trial, the expansion of hearing days and the demand to submit a full defense-witness list. His lawyer, Amit Hadad, informed the court Netanyahu would attend on Sunday, though he did not say why. The court said it will hear defense witness Eli Levi on Sunday, and on Monday it will hear Hadad’s request about witnesses, which could also cover the number of weekly hearing days.

The judges recently ordered the trial to run five days a week, after most of Netanyahu’s testimony days were shortened or canceled at his request. They also told Hadad to file the complete list of defense witnesses in advance. Netanyahu and Hadad want to avoid a closed list and instead reveal witnesses only shortly before they testify, preserving surprise for the defense.

The court has already expanded the schedule once, from three days a week to four in 2025. Hadad objected then, even asking to stop representing Netanyahu or return to a three-day schedule, but in October last year the judges rejected both requests and he stayed on the case.

With Netanyahu’s testimony finished this week, the case returns to the Jerusalem District Court. Judges Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am and Oded Shaham said hearings will now run Sunday through Thursday, from 09:00 to 16:00, and suggested the sides also sit during the court recess. Their aim is to finish the evidence phase in about a year and complete the verdict before Friedman-Feldman retires in March 2028. Under the law, the verdict must be issued by July 2028, unless she is reappointed as an associate judge or a new judge is added, both of which raise practical and legal difficulties.