Benjamin Netanyahu corruption trial delayed on diplomatic and security grounds
An Israeli court has cancelled this week's hearings in Benjamin Netanyahu's long-running corruption trial, accepting a request made by the prime minister on classified diplomatic and security grounds.
'Following the explanations given … we partially accept the request and cancel at this stage Mr Netanyahu's hearings scheduled' for this week, the Jerusalem district court said in its ruling, published online by Netanyahu's Likud party.
The ruling said that new reasons provided by Netanyahu, the head of Israel's spy agency the Mossad and the military intelligence chief justified cancelling the hearings.
It comes after Donald Trump last week called for the case to be thrown out. In remarks on social media, the US president suggested the trial could interfere with Netanyahu's ability to join negotiations with the Palestinian militant group Hamas and Iran, adding that the US was 'not going to stand' for the continued prosecution, prompting Netanyahu to thank him in a message on X.
In a social media post, Trump described the case against the Israeli premier as a 'witch hunt', saying the trial 'should be CANCELLED, IMMEDIATELY, or a Pardon given to a Great Hero'.
Netanyahu was indicted in 2019 on charges of bribery, fraud and breach of trust – all of which he denies. He has cast the trial against him as an orchestrated leftwing witch-hunt meant to topple a democratically elected rightwing leader.
In one of the cases, he and his wife, Sara, are accused of accepting more than $260,000 worth of luxury goods such as cigars, jewellery and champagne from billionaires in exchange for political favours.
In two others, Netanyahu is accused of attempting to negotiate more favourable coverage from two Israeli media outlets. The prime minister has requested multiple postponements to the trial since it began in May 2020.
Netanyahu's lawyers had asked the court to excuse him from testifying over the next two weeks so he could focus on security issues after a ceasefire with Iran and amid ongoing fighting in Gaza where Israeli hostages are held.
They submitted the prime minister's schedule to the court to demonstrate 'the national need for the prime minister to devote all his time and energy to the political, national and security issues at hand'.
The court initially rejected the lawyers' request, but said in its ruling on Sunday that it had changed its judgment after hearing arguments from the prime minister and other senior officials.
A spokesperson for the Israeli prosecution declined to comment on Trump's post.
Israeli opposition leader Yair Lapid said last week that Trump 'should not interfere in a judicial trial in an independent country'.
Trump said Netanyahu was 'right now' negotiating a deal with Hamas, though neither leader provided details, and officials from both sides have voiced scepticism over prospects for a ceasefire soon.
On Friday, the Republican president told reporters he believed a ceasefire was close.
With Reuters and Agence France-Presse
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
The Independent
43 minutes ago
- The Independent
Protesters urge Wimbledon to cut ties with Barclays over Israel business deals
Pro-Palestinian protesters urged Wimbledon to drop Barclays as a sponsor Monday because of the British bank's business dealings with Israel. About two dozen protesters from Palestine Solidarity Campaign demonstrated by the main entrance of the All England Club as thousands of fans arrived for Day 1 of the tournament. 'They're the bank for the arms companies that are obviously supplying weapons to Israel,' protester Khalid Zalmay told The Associated Press. 'We should not be arming Israel, we should not be allowing anybody to facilitate arming them, and I think ties should be cut with Israel, the same way that ties were cut with Russia.' One protester held a sign that said Barclays is a 'sponsor of Wimbledon and genocide.' Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and abducted 251 people in the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Israel-Hamas war. Israel's military response has led to the death of 56,000 Palestinians, according to the Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between civilians and combatants. It says more than half of the dead were women and children. Wimbledon did not immediately respond to a request for comment. Barclays said it is 'proud of our partnership with Wimbledon' and defended its business practices. 'We provide a range of financial services and products to companies supplying defense products to the UK, NATO and its allies,' the company statement said. 'As NATO, the EU and UK seek to increase their defense capabilities in response to increasing geopolitical threats, the provision of financial products and services to the defense sector is becoming increasingly important.'
Sky News
an hour ago
- Sky News
Almost 60 people killed in Gaza, Hamas says, as Trump calls for ceasefire deal
Almost 60 people have been killed in new Israeli strikes in Gaza, Hamas-run health authorities have said, as residents reported heavy bombardments. The Israeli military issued evacuation orders on Monday to people in large areas of the north, leading to further displacement. Israeli officials are due in Washington for a new attempt at a ceasefire promoted by the Trump administration. Salah, a 60-year-old father-of-five from Gaza City, said: "In the news we hear a ceasefire is near, on the ground we see death and we hear explosions," Reuters reported him as saying. "Explosions never stopped; they bombed schools and homes. It felt like earthquakes." Health authorities said 10 people were killed in Zeitoun and at least 13 were killed southwest of Gaza City. Medics said most of those 13 were hit by gunfire, but residents reported an airstrike, too. They also said 20 people, including women, children and a local journalist were killed in an Israeli airstrike on a beachfront cafe in Gaza City. The IDF ordered people to head south, saying it planned to fight Hamas militants operating in northern Gaza, including in the heart of Gaza City. Donald Trump has urged Israel and Hamas to agree a ceasefire - as the number of Palestinians killed in Gaza reached 56,500, according to Hamas-run authorities. "MAKE THE DEAL IN GAZA. GET THE HOSTAGES BACK!!!," he wrote on social media on Sunday. The US president had raised expectations of a possible agreement this week, but some Palestinians were doubtful of the latest efforts to end the 20-month war that has laid waste to most of Gaza. "Since the beginning of the war, they have been promising us something like this: release the hostages and we will stop the war," said one Palestinian, Abdel Hadi al Hour. "They did not stop the war." An eight-week ceasefire was reached in the final days of Joe Biden's US presidency, but Israel resumed the war in March after trying to get Hamas to accept new terms on next steps. Meanwhile, Israeli attacks in Gaza also continued on Sunday. At least 15 people were killed when an IDF airstrike hit a house sheltering displaced people in the Jabaliya al-Nazla area, according to an official in Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry. He said women and children made up more than half the dead. During a visit to Israel's internal security service Shin Bet, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that the Israel-Iran war and ceasefire have opened many opportunities. "First of all, to rescue the hostages," he said. "Of course, we will also have to solve the Gaza issue, to defeat Hamas, but I estimate that we will achieve both tasks." The war in Gaza, which has continued for more than a year and a half, began after Hamas militants launched attacks in Israel on 7 October 2023, killing 1,200 people and taking roughly 250 hostages. 0:55 Talks between Israel and Hamas have stalled over whether or not the war should end as part of any ceasefire. Hamas official Mahmoud Merdawi accused Mr Netanyahu of stalling progress on a deal, saying the Israeli leader insists on a temporary agreement that would free just 10 of the hostages. Omer Dostri, a spokesperson for Mr Netanyahu, said that "Hamas was the only obstacle to ending the war", without addressing Mr Merdawi's claim. Hamas says it is willing to free all the hostages in exchange for a full withdrawal of Israeli troops and an end to the war in Gaza. Israel rejects that offer, saying it will agree to end the war if Hamas surrenders, disarms and goes into exile - something that the group refuses.
The National
an hour ago
- The National
War crimes, not festival acts, should be dominating the headlines
Predictably, Kneecap's performance enjoyed huge crowds with justifiable denunciation of the rabid right-wing Israeli government and Keir Starmer's continued immoral justification for his government's non-interventionist stance – apart, that is, from the maintenance of supplying arms to Netanyahu to enable the genocide of the Palestinian people. READ MORE: Met police drop second terror charge against Kneecap Daily reports of the IDF firing on desperate crowds trying to obtain food and water for themselves and their families are consistently ignored or obfuscated by the majority of the media and politicians in the UK. The systematic murder of civilians does not even warrant token coverage by the 'just and equitable' BBC as soldiers from the IDF use them for target practice. It is accurate to state that Bob Vylan crossed the line of common decency in their rhetoric to the Glastonbury crowd but it is nonetheless frustrating to realise that this then becomes the story for television and newspapers, and not the acts of barbarity committed by the Netanyahu administration, a gang of heinous war criminals. There are governments in Europe that are prepared to make a righteous and humanitarian stance with regards the international crimes being carried out in Palestine. Spain and Ireland spring readily to mind. READ MORE: Keir Starmer responds Bob Vylan's Glastonbury Festival chants Would it be too much to ask that our own First Minister nail his colours to the mast by castigating the UK Government for its ongoing tangible support for the abhorrent Israeli government and the disproportionate overreaction of Starmer's government to the actions of the Palestine Action group and Kneecap? Scotland should be on the right side of history with compassion and humanitarianism at the fore. And for those who believe young bands like Kneecap have an invidious political influence over their young (and not so young!) followers, please note that one of the headliners at Glastonbury, none other than Rod Stewart, was doing his best to sway his fans as well. The octogenarian, who plainly has a head emptier than the Albion Rovers trophy cabinet, seems to have channelled his inner John Lennon by entreating us all to 'give Farage a chance'. Really Rod, I don't want to talk about it. Owen Kelly Stirling WAR and violence is the failure of leadership. The ultimate display of weakness and hypocrisy. Maybe the intellectually challenged occupant of Downing Street should read the above and inwardly digest it. That way, the rest of us might have a future. Margaret Forbes Blanefield IT is difficult to suppress a very tiny smile when reading the story of convicted fraudster Thomas Robinson, also known as Tam O'Braan (was this alias not a wee hint?), who between 2014 and 2019 tricked high-end retailers and very well-known hotels into buying fake 'Scottish-grown' tea. He has just been jailed for three-and-a-half years. His 'Scottish' tea was in fact purchased from a wholesaler in Oxford and resold with an inflated price tag. Apparently his scheme received support from the Scottish Government, and I seem to remember him appearing on at least one national TV news programme. Given his deception was to the value of more than £500,000 and ran for five years, a curious person might wonder why it has taken another five years to bring him to justice. READ MORE: Fraudster jailed for 3 years over Scottish tea scam Clearly he is a man of some considerable talent, however misguided, who one could imagine selling sand to Arabs and ice to Eskimos. Perhaps when he is released from prison he could find a senior position in the likes of Scottish Enterprise or in the public relations department of CalMac. On the final day of the Scottish Parliament before its summer holiday break, legislation was passed to allow prisoners to be released having serving only 15% of their sentence. If this were to be applied to Mr O'Braan's 42-month sentence, he could be released some time in January 2026 – only six months from now. He would miss Christmas and New Year at home but I wonder if he would be eligible to stand in the May 2026 Scottish Parliament elections? Brian Lawson Paisley THE description of a Hearts investor as a 'professional gambler, poker player and entrepreneur' in Saturday's edition neatly sums up the state of professional football in this country. Add in the 'apology' to Rangers fans from an erstwhile big wheel at Ibrox and it's plain that the game, once almost the sole preserve and passion of working people, has been infiltrated by money men operating near the edge of legality. Contempt for the rules has percolated down to player level, with blatant cheating now endemic and seemingly accepted as part of the game. Not the sport it used to be. Jim Butchart via email
