Netanyahu Trial Judges Consider Increasing Hearings to Five Days a Week Amid Defense Objections

Judges presiding over Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's trial are currently discussing the possibility of accelerating the proceedings by holding hearings five days a week. The session is taking place at the Jerusalem District Court, which resumed hosting the trial after Netanyahu completed his testimony in Tel Aviv due to security reasons. Netanyahu himself attended the hearing and opposed speeding up the trial, arguing that it would harm his defense.

Netanyahu's lawyer, Amit Hadad, expressed concerns about managing the increased workload, stating that handling five-day weeks would be unsustainable given his other cases and personal life. Hadad emphasized that such a schedule would force them to work on weekends and holidays, contrary to basic labor norms, and paradoxically could prolong the trial due to inadequate preparation time for witnesses.

Last week, Netanyahu concluded his testimony, which lasted a year and a half and spanned 98 sessions, marking the longest defendant testimony in an Israeli criminal trial. The judges involved in the current discussion include Rivka Friedman-Feldman, Moshe Bar-Am, and Oded Shaham. The court is weighing the need to expedite the trial process against the defense's capacity to maintain an effective representation under a more demanding schedule.