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Testimony in Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s corruption trial was abruptly cancelled on Monday, lengthening a two-month delay in proceedings for the Iran war in the long-running trial that could result in prison time for the far right leader.
Netanyahu’s defense team cited “security” concerns for the cancellation of his testimony, Israeli media reported, without further details.
This is the latest in a series of postponements of the trial that has been ongoing since May 2020, regarding three charges of corruption. It was first postponed due to the COVID-19 pandemic, then due to Israel’s genocide in Gaza, and most recently due to the U.S. and Israel’s war on Iran, which is now on pause.
The testimony reportedly commenced again on Tuesday, regarding Case 4000, in which Netanyahu faces an indictment for bribery over claims that he gave regulatory favors to an Israeli telecommunications company in exchange for positive coverage of himself and his wife when he was serving as communications minister.
Cross-examination for Case 4000 and Case 2000 are nearing an end, with prosecutors estimating that only a few more weeks are required if the rate of two hearings a week continues, per Haaretz. If found guilty, Netanyahu could face up to 10 years in prison for the bribery charge.
Late last year, Netanyahu submitted a formal request to be pardoned to Israeli President Isaac Herzog. He said a pardon was crucial to unite Israel and ensure that the country can continue its relationship with the United States. He cited President Donald Trump’s request for Herzog to pardon Netanyahu a month prior.
“President Trump called for an immediate end to the trial so that I may join him in further advancing vital and shared interests of Israel and the United States,” Netanyahu said in a video statement about the request in December.
Herzog postponed a decision on Netanyahu’s request for a pardon this week. Instead, Israeli sources have said, Herzog will first seek a mediation process to work out a plea deal. “President Isaac Herzog has stated on several occasions that he regards reaching an amicable solution between the parties as an important public interest,” his office said in a statement.
The latest trial postponement comes as Netanyahu is facing a political challenge in upcoming elections. This week, former Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett and opposition leader Yair Lapid announced that they are merging their parties in order to challenge Netanyahu.
This is, in some ways, a rehash of an existing coalition. Though it is described by some as a “moderate” alternative to Netanyahu’s right-wing party, both politicians have been hardliners against Palestinian rights, and have supported similar policies of apartheid and wanton killing of Palestinians as Netanyahu has implemented.
As support for Israel among U.S. politicians has increasingly become a clear liability, some Democrats have been pointing to Netanyahu as the sole reason for human rights violations conducted by Israel, in order to avoid cutting off aid to Israel indefinitely as advocates have called for.
U.S. Rep. Daniel Goldman (D-New York), for instance, hailed the announcement of the coalition on Monday, saying: “The Israeli people are ready to remove Benjamin Netanyahu’s extremist, far-right government in the upcoming October election.
”Pro-Palestine advocates have repeatedly said, however, that the fundamental issue isn’t Netanyahu, but the ideology that has driven Israel to conduct ethnic cleansing and mass slaughter of Palestinians ever since it was first established less than 80 years ago.
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