Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's corruption trial resumed on Sunday, with Jerusalem District Court Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman ruling that the trial's evidentiary stage would begin in January 2021 with witnesses taking the stand three times a week.
Netanyahu, who was not present at Sunday's hearing due to its procedural nature, would be expected to be present at every hearing, she ruled.
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Netanyahu is charged with fraud, breach of trust and accepting bribes in three cases alleging that he received lavish gifts from billionaire friends and exchanged regulatory favors with media moguls for more agreeable coverage of himself and his family.
Netanyahu denies any wrongdoing and has labeled the trial a media-orchestrated witch-hunt pursued by a biased law enforcement system.
Lead prosecutor Liat Ben Ari asked the court to hear evidence in Case 4,000, considered the gravest, first. Followed by Case 2,000 and Case 1,000.
Case 4,000 centers on an alleged deal by which Shaul Elovitch, the controlling shareholder of Israeli telecom corporation Bezeq, ensured positive coverage of the Netanyahu family by the Walla news website, which Bezeq owns, in exchange for the prime minister promoting government regulations worth hundreds of millions of dollars to the company.
Case 2,000 focuses on an illicit deal Netanyahu allegedly tried to strike with Yedioth Ahronoth publisher Arnon Mozes so as to ensure positive coverage; and Case 1,000, which centers on gifts Netanyahu allegedly received from Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer.
During the hearing the prime minister's lead defense attorney, Yossi Segev, asked for a continuance due to the coronavirus pandemic, saying that he cannot properly question witnesses wearing face masks, as required under the coronavirus restrictions imposed on public gatherings.
"How can a cross-examination be held when I'm wearing a mask, the witness has a mask and so does the judge?" he asked.
Addressing Case 4,000, he further said that many of the transcripts of conversations in the case that have been handed over to the defense as part of the discovery process were "redacted in a way that skewed the meaning of what was said and thereby change the facts" of the case.
"There are thousands of hours [of taped conversation] and many places in the transcripts have been redacted. … This means the truth in the case is being concealed. This is a clear attempt at obstruction of justice."
The prosecution objected to any continuance over the issue of transcripts or the difficulty in questioning witnesses wearing masks.
Segev also told the court that he had received power of attorney only for Sunday's hearing, "because the attorney general did not allow funding" for the prime minister's defense.
Last month the Permits Committee at the State Comptroller's Office rejected Netanyahu's request to accept donations from wealthy benefactors for his legal expenses. It also instructed him to return funds he had already received.
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