Netanyahu's Request Denied; Israeli Prime Minister to Appear in Court Next Week

An Israeli court rejected Benjamin Netanyahu's request to postpone the testimony process in the 'corruption allegations' case. According to the court's announcement published on Thursday, December 15, the Prime Minister of Israel is set to appear in court sessions starting Tuesday, December 20. Netanyahu's lawyers had requested a delay in the testimony phase for an unspecified period due to the country's wartime situation and the need for the Prime Minister's full-time presence at his workplace. Following the court's rejection of the delay, Netanyahu sought to limit his court appearances to twice a week for a maximum of three hours each time, which was also opposed by the court. Thus, Mr. Netanyahu is required to attend court sessions three days a week for as long as the court deems necessary. The court only accepted that in special and emergency situations, Mr. Netanyahu could be allowed to leave the court or postpone a session. Opposition activists had asked the Israeli Supreme Court to bar Benjamin Netanyahu from performing his duties as Prime Minister during the trial. However, the Supreme Court rejected this request, deeming such action outside its jurisdiction. It is estimated that Mr. Netanyahu's testimony in the indictment cases could take several weeks. In another development, Israel's internal security agency, Shin Bet, requested the judiciary to hold the court in a secure hall in another city instead of Jerusalem, due to security threats against Mr. Netanyahu. Israeli media reported that an underground hall in Tel Aviv has been selected for this purpose. Aside from a drone attack by Hezbollah on Benjamin Netanyahu's private residence in Qisarya in northern Israel, several of the Prime Minister's political opponents had thrown flares into his yard last month. Benjamin Netanyahu is accused in three separate cases of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust, related to his close relationships with wealthy businessmen and powerful media owners in Israel. The indictment against him was presented to the court four years ago. Mr. Netanyahu has consistently emphasized his innocence. Israel has a history of prosecuting a Prime Minister and a former President and convicting them to prison. Ehud Olmert served 19 months, and Moshe Katsav served five years in prison. A recent poll by Channel 12 of Israel indicated a relative increase in Benjamin Netanyahu's popularity among the public. This appears to be related to the country's military successes in striking Hezbollah and Hamas and countering threats from Iran, although the ongoing captivity of at least one hundred Israeli hostages by the extremist group Hamas has led to significant dissatisfaction. According to the results of this recent poll, it seems that if new elections were held, Benjamin Netanyahu and his Likud party would still be in the lead.