Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s legal team says the demands being placed on him for his yearslong corruption case are comparable to Israel’s treatment of a Nazi war criminal.
Defense attorney Amit Hadad, who is representing the prime minister as he continues to navigate a corruption trial that began in 2019, said at the Jerusalem District Court on Monday that it was “impossible to conduct a trial” five days a week as the judges are demanding.
“No trial has ever been conducted five days in a week, only the [Adolf] Eichmann trial,” Hadad said. “I told the prime minister, we are facing dire straits, I have no way to provide proper defense.”
Eichmann, a Nazi official who is widely considered the chief architect of the Holocaust, was brought to trial in Israel for crimes against humanity in 1961. He was abducted from his hideout in Argentina by Mossad before standing trial in Jerusalem, where he was found guilty of 15 counts, including war crimes and crimes against the Jewish people.
He was executed by hanging in 1962 despite pleas for commutation on humanitarian grounds. It is the most famous legal proceeding in the history of Israel.
The five-day-a-week schedule for the trial is intended to commence on Oct. 4, after the conclusion of this year’s High Holy Days.
Netanyahu is currently facing three legal cases — referred to as Case 1,000, Case 2,000, and Case 4,000.
Case 1,000 alleges that the prime minister and his wife enjoyed a “supply channel” of “cigar boxes and cases of champagne” from Israeli Hollywood producer Arnon Milchan and Australian billionaire James Packer. Case 2,000 alleges that Netanyahu received positive treatment in the press from Israeli media mogul Arnon Mozes in exchange for opposing and quashing legislation that would have limited the circulation of his news outlets.
Case 4,000 alleges that the prime minister maintained an illicit “reciprocal arrangement” with Bezeq, a telecommunications company. Netanyahu is accused of acting to benefit Bezeq in matters of regulation and furthering the company’s business interests in exchange for positive coverage.
The court has expressed concern that the scope and complexity of the trial could drag proceedings well into 2028. Speaking at court on Monday, Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman said on behalf of the three-judge panel that the prosecution should consider dropping the bribery charges in Case 4,000 — a position they have held for years.
“We did not intend to say this, but after hearing the prime minister’s testimony, our position, as expressed in June 2023, remains unchanged,” Friedman-Feldman, who is expected to retire in 2028, said.
Their recommendation is not an order and does not mean that a bribery case couldn’t return a guilty verdict. It is a logistical recommendation due to the fact that the single bribery allegation would balloon the number of witnesses and greatly extend the course of the proceedings.
“If the bribery charge stays, we are talking about hundreds of witnesses,” Hadad said. “We will not finish by March 2028.”
ULTRA-ORTHODOX JEWS BECOME POLITICAL FOOTBALL FOR NETANYAHU
Netanyahu appeared in court on Monday despite not being required to be present. He spoke on his own behalf to the court, lambasting the trial as a “massive distortion of justice” and a “criminal use of the justice system” against him.
“We reject any claim of political persecution,” prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh objected on Monday after the prime minister left the courtroom. “We act according to the evidence before us and our professional position.”
But Tirosh is in agreement with the defense that “five days [per week] is a very difficult thing” to manage, calling it “close to impossible” for both the defense and prosecution.