"The grounds of the request by counsel on behalf of accused number one and the responses of the other accused are insufficient to justify adjournment of the hearing," Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman of the Jerusalem District Court stated today in dismissing the application by Benjamin Netanyahu's defense lawyers for a 45-day postponement of the opening of their client's trial on corruption charges.
The upshot is that Netanyahu and the other accused in the indictment filed in the cases involving him - Shaul and Iris Elovitch and Arnon (Noni) Mozes - will have to turn up next Tuesday, March 17, at 3 pm in the Jerusalem District Court for a hearing in which the indictment will be read out.
Earlier this week, Netanyahu's lawyer sought a 45-day delay in the opening of the trial because he had not received all of the investigation material relating to the cases in which Netanyahu is charged. Counsel for the other defendants joined the application.
Judge Friedman-Feldman, who will head the three-judge panel in the case, explained her decision by saying that in any case the accused were not required to answer the charges at the hearing set down, and that there was therefore no bar to it taking place.
The indictment filed in January this year in the Jerusalem District Court arises from case 1000, concerning gifts received by Netanyahu; case 2000, concerning recorded conversations in which Netanyahu discussed with Mozes the idea of curbing the market power of free daily Yisrael Hayom in return for favorable coverage in Mozes's newspaper Yediot Ahronot; and case 4000, in which Netanyahu is accused of benefitting telecommunications company Bezeq, which Shaul Elovitch then controlled, in return for favorable coverage on the Walla! News website, which Elovitch owned.
Benjamin Netanyahu, Shaul and Iris Elovitch, and Arnon Mozes deny the charges against them, have not been convicted of any crime, and are entitled to the presumption of innocence.
Published by Globes, Israel business news - en.globes.co.il - on March 10, 2020
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