Prime Minister Binyamin’s Netanyahu's trial, which was scheduled to begin on Tuesday, may be delayed after Justice Minister Amir Ohana announced overnight Saturday a state of emergency in the courts for a period of 24 hours, in the wake of the new guidelines for the fight against the coronavirus.
During the emergency situation, the courts will only hold urgent hearings. The regulations ordered by Ohana will only be in effect for 24 hours, but are expected to continue for some time afterwards, and as such the first hearing in Netanyahu's case is expected to be postponed to an unknown date.
Ohana's statement Saturday night said that during the state of emergency, there will only be hearings on arrests and bail, administrative detention, and urgent petitions to the Supreme Court, among others.
Minister Ohana's office said, "The decision was made in light of the recommendation of the professional bodies in the Ministry of Health and in coordination with the administration of the courts and the Attorney General."
Last Monday, the Taxes and Economy Prosecutor told the Jerusalem District Court that it is against Netanyahu's defense attorney's request to postpone Tuesday’s hearing.
The prosecutor's statement came several hours after Attorney Amit Haddad, defense counsel for the Prime Minister, filed a motion with the Jerusalem District Court asking to postpone the hearing for a period of 45 days.