Netanyahu Defense Fights Five-Day Trial Schedule in Jerusalem Court

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and attorney Amit Hadad appeared in Jerusalem District Court on Monday to oppose the judges' order moving the defense phase of the corruption trial to five full hearing days a week. Hadad argued that the pace would deny Netanyahu a proper defense, comparing the only comparable five-day schedule he found to the Eichmann trial and saying he had warned the prime minister he could not prepare at that rate. Netanyahu told the panel Hadad had considered resigning and called the schedule a grave distortion of justice. Prosecutor Yehudit Tirosh also said five days is extremely difficult, while the court is trying to keep the long-running Cases 1000, 2000 and 4000 moving before Judge Rivka Friedman-Feldman's March 2028 retirement.