Israeli premier faces charges of bribery, fraud, breach of trust that could lead to imprisonment if proven
Israel's attorney general on Friday rejected Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's request to postpone his corruption trial for two weeks.
Netanyahu had asked the Jerusalem District Court to delay his trial for two weeks claiming he needed to focus on other matters following the Israeli aggression on Iran, including the issue of returning Israeli captives from Gaza.
However, the attorney general refused Netanyahu's request to postpone the trial sessions which are expected to resume next Monday, according to Israel's official public broadcaster KAN.
The attorney general said: “The general reasons detailed in the request cannot justify canceling two weeks of hearings,” according to KAN.
For several months, Netanyahu has appeared twice weekly before the court to respond to the charges against him but the sessions were halted during the recent Israel-Iran war that began on June 13 and lasted for 12 days.
On Thursday, Netanyahu thanked US President Donald Trump for calling to cancel his corruption trial, a move that sparked wide controversy and division in Israel.
Supporters of Netanyahu welcomed it, while the opposition urged Trump not to interfere in Israel's judicial process.
Netanyahu faces charges of bribery, fraud, and breach of trust that could lead to imprisonment if proven.
In January, Netanyahu began interrogation sessions related to Cases 1000, 2000, and 4000, which he denies. The attorney general filed an indictment related to these cases at the end of November 2019.
Case 1000 involves Netanyahu and his family receiving expensive gifts from wealthy businessmen in exchange for favors.
Case 2000 concerns alleged negotiations with Arnon Mozes, the publisher of the Israeli daily Yedioth Ahronoth, to gain positive media coverage.
Case 4000, considered the most serious, involves providing facilitation to Shaul Elovitch, the former owner of the news site Walla and a telecommunications company Bezeq, in return for favorable media coverage.
Rejecting international calls for a ceasefire, the Israeli army has pursued a brutal offensive against Gaza since October 2023, killing nearly 56,300 Palestinians, most of them women and children.
Last November, the International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants for Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.
Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.
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